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Minggu, 02 Agustus 2020

Philippines to reimpose stricter COVID-19 lockdown in capital as cases spike - CNA

MANILA: The Philippines will reimpose a stricter coronavirus lockdown in and around the capital for two weeks from Tuesday, authorities said on Sunday (Aug 2), as the country struggles to contain infections that have jumped to more than 100,000 cases.

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved placing Metro Manila and nearby provinces such as Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan under so-called "Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine" (MECQ) until Aug 18, his spokesman Harry Roque told reporters.

Some businesses and public transport are expected to be closed in the capital, which is currently under the less restrictive General Community Quarantine classification.

Work and quarantine passes will also be required, as authorities seek to restrict movements.

READ: 'Losing battle': Philippine doctors, nurses urge new COVID-19 lockdowns

Duterte's move came after 80 local groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses called for tighter controls, saying the country was losing the fight against the coronavirus.

"I have heard you. Don't lose hope. We are aware that you are tired," Duterte said late on Sunday, addressing the medical frontliners during a televised speech after meeting cabinet members and his coronavirus task force.

The Philippines recorded 5,032 additional infections on Sunday, the country's largest single-day increase, taking its confirmed coronavirus cases to 103,185. The death toll jumped by 20 to 2,059.

READ: Philippines to update COVID-19 strategy as healthcare workers seek 'timeout'

This is the second highest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia, behind Indonesia.

Duterte also approved the hiring of 10,000 medical professionals to beef up the current workforce and additional benefits for healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients, Roque said.

In mid-March, Duterte imposed one of the world's longest and strictest lockdowns in the capital and other provinces to curb the coronavirus spread.

He began easing restrictions in June in an effort to revive the domestic economy, which is now facing its biggest contraction in more than three decades.

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2020-08-02 19:32:24Z
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China sends team to Hong Kong to do widespread COVID-19 testing - CNA

HONG KONG: Seven Chinese health officials arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday (Aug 2), the first members of a 60-person team that will carry out widespread COVID-19 testing in the territory as it races to halt a third wave of illness.

The initiative marks the first time mainland health officials have assisted Hong Kong in its battle to control the epidemic.

The city has reported around 3,500 coronavirus cases and 34 deaths since January, far lower than many other global metropolitan centres. But the daily number of new infections has been in three digits for the past 12 days.

READ: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announces delay to Sep 6 elections as COVID-19 cases spike

READ: Hong Kong is on verge of COVID-19 outbreak that could collapse hospital system, says Carrie Lam

Members of the testing team, co-ordinated by the Chinese government, are mostly from public hospitals in Guangdong province, China's National Health Commission said.

A group of local Hong Kong councillors said on Sunday that some local residents fear China may use their presence as an opportunity to collect DNA samples for surveillance purposes.

The territory's government denied the claims, saying virus testing would only be conducted in the city and samples would not be transported to the mainland.

Leader Carrie Lam said on Saturday the former British colony asked for help from the central government due to the resurgence in cases. She said the government was studying whether everyone in Hong Kong could be tested, local broadcaster RTHK reported on Saturday.

The Chinese territory saw a surge in locally transmitted coronavirus cases in July and introduced a raft of tightening measures including restricting gatherings to two people and mandating face masks in all outdoor public spaces.

READ: COVID-19: Hong Kong backtracks on restaurant dining ban, to allow with restrictions

Hong Kong has reported around 3,400 coronavirus cases and 33 deaths since January, far lower than other major cities around the world. But the daily number of new infections has been in the triple-digits for the past 11 days.

Beijing recently imposed a security law that critics say undermines Hong Kong's autonomy, which was guaranteed under a "one country, two systems" formula when the city returned to Chinese control from Britain in 1997.

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2020-08-02 14:26:15Z
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Australia's Victoria declares state of disaster, imposes curfew to contain COVID-19 - CNA

MELBOURNE: Australia's Victoria declared a state of disaster on Sunday (Aug 2) and imposed a nightly curfew for the capital Melbourne as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain the coronavirus.

Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, will move to Stage 4 restrictions until Sep 13 given "unacceptably high" levels of community transmission, said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

Starting Sunday night for the next six weeks, the city's residents will face a curfew from 8pm to 5am. They will also not be able to go further than 5km from their home and will be limited to an hour of exercise a day.

Only one person per household will be able to shop for essential items each day, also within the same 5km radius.

Australian authorities are set to impose strict and sweeping new measures to control a growing — Australian authorities imposed strict and sweeping new measures to control a growing coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne AFP/William WEST

Most school and university students in Melbourne will return to online learning from midnight on Wednesday, just weeks after returning to their classrooms, while kindergartens and daycare centres will be effectively closed from Thursday.

Supermarkets will remain open, and restaurants, already closed for dining in, will be able to continue with their takeaway and delivery services.

Weddings will also be banned in the city. At the height of the first wave of the pandemic, weddings in Australia were limited to five people.

"These are the decisions made because anything short of this will not keep us safe," Andrews said.

"Anything short of this will see it drag on for months and months and months."

Additional restrictions affecting workplaces would be announced on Monday, Andrews added, suggesting that non-essential businesses will face closures.

The state recorded 671 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths from the virus on Sunday.

READ: Sydney COVID-19 cases under control despite Melbourne outbreak, says Australian PM

FEDERAL BACKING

The federal government backed Victoria's measures, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying in a post on his Facebook page that they were "regrettably necessary" to stop the spread of the pandemic.

"We are all in this together and we will get through it," Morrison said.

Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt said at a televised briefing the federal government supports the measures with a "heavy" heart.

"We do so because they will help save and protect lives," Hunt said.

The backing by the federal government, ruled by a Liberal Party-led coalition, for the measures by Victoria's Labor Party government shows national unity across the political spectrum in a country with a loose federal system.

The state of disaster gives Victoria police additional powers to ensure people are complying with public health directions.

"We have no choice but to make these decisions and to push on," Andrews said. "This is the only option we have."

Outside Melbourne, the rest of Victoria will move to a Stage 3 lockdown from midnight on Wednesday with people allowed to leave home only for work, study, care and essential shopping.

Elsewhere in Australia, other states and territories have for weeks reported zero or a small number of cases while relaxing restrictions.

They have, however, banned visitors from Victoria and Sydney - another virus hotspot.

Australia's total reported COVID-19 infections reached almost 18,000 on Sunday, with 208 deaths in a population of 25 million.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

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2020-08-02 07:18:45Z
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Australia's Victoria declares state of disaster, imposes curfew to contain COVID-19 - CNA

Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, will move to Stage 4 restrictions until Sep 13 given "unacceptably high" levels of community transmission, said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

Only one person per household will be able to shop for essential items each day, also within the same 5km radius.

Weddings will also be banned in the city. At the height of the first wave of the pandemic, weddings in Australia were limited to five people.

"These are the decisions made because anything short of this will not keep us safe," Andrews said.

"Anything short of this will see it drag on for months and months and months."

Additional restrictions affecting workplaces would be announced on Monday, Andrews added, suggesting that non-essential businesses will face closures.

The state recorded 671 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths from the virus on Sunday.

READ: Sydney COVID-19 cases under control despite Melbourne outbreak, says Australian PM

Outside Melbourne, the rest of Victoria will move to a Stage 3 lockdown from midnight on Wednesday with people allowed to leave home only for work, study, care and essential shopping.

Elsewhere in Australia, other states and territories have for weeks reported zero or a small number of cases while relaxing restrictions.

They have, however, banned visitors from Victoria and Sydney - another virus hotspot.

Australia's total reported COVID-19 infections reached almost 18,000 on Sunday, with 208 deaths in a population of 25 million.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Sabtu, 01 Agustus 2020

Australia's Victoria declares state of disaster, imposes curfew to contain COVID-19 - CNA

MELBOURNE: A state of disaster was declared in Australia's Victoria on Sunday (Aug 2), with the local government implementing a night curfew as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain the coronavirus.

Melbourne, the state's capital, will move to Stage 4 restrictions until Sep 13 given "unacceptably high" levels of community transmission, said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

Starting Sunday night for the next six weeks, Melbourne residents will face a curfew from 8pm to 5am. They will also not be able to go further than 5km from home and will be limited to an hour of exercise a day.

Only one person per household will be able to shop for essential items each day, also within the same 5km radius.

Weddings will also be banned in the city. At the height of the first wave of the pandemic, weddings in Australia were limited to five people.

"These are the decisions made because anything short of this will not keep us safe," Andrews said.

"Anything short of this will see it drag on for months and months and months."

Additional restrictions affecting workplaces would be announced on Monday, Andrews added, suggesting that non-essential businesses will face closures.

The state recorded 671 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths from the virus on Sunday.

READ: Sydney COVID-19 cases under control despite Melbourne outbreak, says Australian PM

Outside Melbourne, the rest of Victoria will move to a Stage 3 lockdown from midnight on Wednesday with people allowed to leave home only for work, study, care and essential shopping.

Elsewhere in Australia, other states and territories have for weeks reported zero or a small number of cases while relaxing restrictions.

They have, however, banned visitors from Victoria and Sydney - another virus hotspot.

Australia's total reported COVID-19 infections reached almost 18,000 on Sunday, with 208 deaths in a population of 25 million.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

Let's block ads! (Why?)

China sends team to Hong Kong to do widespread COVID-19 testing - CNA

HONG KONG: Seven Chinese health officials were due to arrive in Hong Kong on Sunday (Aug 2), the first members of a 60-person team that will carry out widespread testing for COVID-19 in the territory as the global financial hub races to halt a third wave of illness.

China's National Health Commission on Saturday announced their scheduled arrival.

Members of the team are from public hospitals in Guangdong province while a specialist team of six from Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus first appeared, will help prepare part of the AsiaWorld Expo convention centre as a facility for COVID-19 patients.

READ: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announces delay to Sep 6 elections as COVID-19 cases spike

READ: Hong Kong is on verge of COVID-19 outbreak that could collapse hospital system, says Carrie Lam

The initiative is the first time mainland health officials have assisted Hong Kong in its battle to control the coronavirus.

Some local residents fear China may use this as an excuse to collect DNA samples for surveillance purposes.

READ: COVID-19: Hong Kong backtracks on restaurant dining ban, to allow with restrictions

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

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Singaporean woman is only new Covid-19 community case, detected under enhanced testing - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - A 26-year-old Singaporean woman was one of 307 new Covid-19 cases detected in Singapore on Saturday (Aug 1), said the Health Ministry (MOH) in its daily update of coronavirus infections here.

Five were imported cases who had been serving their 14-day stay-home notice upon arrival in Singapore from Philippines, India and China. The five patients are aged between one and 62 years old.

Of the five, only the 34-year-old female work pass holder from the Philippines had experienced the onset of symptoms. The rest were asymptomatic.

The remaining cases were migrant workers living in dormitories.

The sole community case reported on Saturday had been detected under the enhanced community testing for all individuals aged 13 and above who are diagnosed with acute respiratory infection at first presentation to a doctor, said MOH.

"This allows us to identify infected individuals early and to quickly contain further spread," it added.

The number of new cases in the community decreased from an average of seven cases per day in the week before, to an average of three per day in the past week, said MOH.

"The number of unlinked cases in the community has also decreased, from an average of four cases per day in the week before, to an average of one per day in the past week. We will continue to closely monitor these numbers, as well as the cases detected through our surveillance programme," added the ministry.

The MOH also said it closed 36 Covid-19 dormitory clusters, which now house only recovered individuals and those who have recently tested negative for the coronavirus infection, following extensive testing.

MOH also said that 249 more Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

This brings the total number of patients who have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community care facilities to 46,740.

Meanwhile, Funan Mall, Raffles City Shopping Centre and Ramada by Wyndham Singapore at Zhongshan Park were among places visited by Covid-19 patients while they were still infectious.

Other places added to the list include Omakase Burger at Wisma Atria, Ikea Alexandra and Sunshine Place's Giant supermarket.

The ministry provides the list of locations and the times that infectious Covid-19 patients have visited to get those who were at these places during the specified periods to monitor their health closely for two weeks from the date of their visit.

The full list of locations and times can be found on the ministry's website.

Minggu, 02 Agustus 2020

Sabtu, 01 Agustus 2020

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