SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Monday (Dec 7) for expanded COVID-19 testing and more thorough tracing as the country struggled to control its latest and largest wave of infections.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 615 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Sunday, capping a month of triple-digit daily increases that have led to 8,311 confirmed patients in quarantine, the most ever.
Moon ordered the government to mobilise every available resource to track infections, and to expand testing by deploying the military and more people from the public service, presidential Blue House spokesman Chung Man-ho told a briefing.
Moon added that testing sites should operate longer hours to allow people working to get tested at their convenience and more drive-through testing facilities should be set up, Chung said.
The positive rate for the latest batch of tests was about 4.2 per cent, compared to the year's average of 1.2 per cent, according to the KDCA.
South Korea avoided lockdowns but used an intensive system of tracing, testing and quarantining to tamp down two earlier waves of infection.
With this third wave, the government has faced increasing criticism as cases continue to rise despite unprecedented measures such as mask mandates, curfews for restaurants and other businesses, and restricted public transportation.
Monday's total was down slightly from Sunday, when the agency reported 631 new cases, the largest daily tally since a peak in February and early March.
In total, South Korea has reported 38,161 cases, with 549 deaths.
Health authorities have said that if the current trend of cases continues, the hospital system could become overloaded.
LONDON: Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors' clinics, the government said on Sunday (Dec 6).
The first doses are set to be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to vaccinating the over-80s, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents.
Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech last week - jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history.
In total, Britain has ordered 40 million doses - enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million.
About 800,000 doses are expected to be available within the first week.
Initial doses that have arrived from Belgium are being stored in secure locations across the country, where they will be quality checked, the health ministry said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has onerous storage requirements. It needs to be kept at -70 degrees Celsius and only lasts five days in a regular fridge.
For that reason, the health ministry said the vaccine would first be administered in 50 hospitals. It said it would take a few hours to defrost each vaccine and prepare it for use.
NHS England has written to general practitioners, telling them to get ready to start giving vaccinations through local doctors' services from Dec 14.
Britain reported 17,272 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to over 1.723 million.
The country also recorded 231 deaths from the disease, down from 397 a day earlier, taking the total toll measured by the number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 61,245.
Rather than run clinics in individual surgeries, groups of local doctors will operate more than 1,000 vaccination centres across the country, the government said.
Boxes of the vaccine contain five packs of 975 doses, but special regulatory approval is needed to split them up. A senior medical official has said that while he was hopeful it would be possible to split the packs and deliver straight to care homes, it was not guaranteed.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, are in line to get the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine early due to their age. (Photo: AFP/Adrian DENNIS)
VACCINE FOR QUEEN
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks, reports late on Saturday said.
The monarch, 94, and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip are in line to get the jab early due to their age and will not receive preferential treatment, the Mail on Sunday reported.
The newspaper said Britain's most senior royals would reveal they have been given the inoculation "to encourage more people to take up the vital jab", amid fears so-called anti-vaxxers could dent enthusiasm for it.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Britain is among the first nations to roll out vaccinations outside the context of a clinic trial, raising hopes that the tide could soon turn against a virus that has killed nearly 1.5 million people globally and hammered the world economy.
Plans are reportedly being stepped up to ensure any complications arising from the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec 31 do not impact its roll-out.
The vaccine will be manufactured at Pfizer's plant in Puurs, Belgium. The Observer reported late on Saturday that ministers have drawn up contingency plans to fly millions of doses into Britain on military aircraft in the event of Brexit-related disruption at UK ports.
"We will do this if necessary," a health department spokesperson told the newspaper.
Talks to finalise a UK-EU free trade deal and avoid potential chaos in January are currently gridlocked, with just days left to seal an agreement.
JAKARTA: Indonesia received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine from China on Sunday (Dec 6), President Joko Widodo said, as the government prepares a mass inoculation programme.
Jokowi, as the president is widely known, said in an online briefing that the country received 1.2 million doses from China's Sinovac Biotech, a vaccine Indonesia has been testing since August.
He added that the government plans to receive another 1.8 million doses in early January.
Late-stage trials of the Sinovac vaccine are also under way in Brazil and Turkey, with interim results on efficiency from Brazil expected by mid-December.
Indonesia is also expected this month to receive shipments of raw materials to produce 15 million doses and materials for 30 million doses next month, the president said.
The vaccine still needs to be evaluated by the country's food and drug agency (BPOM) while his administration continues to prepare for distributing the vaccine across the vast archipelago of 270 million people, Jokowi said.
"We have been preparing for months through simulations in several provinces and I am sure that once it is decided that we can begin the vaccination, everything will be ready," he said.
Indonesia's daily number of coronavirus infections have accelerated in recent weeks, with total confirmed cases reaching 575,796 on Sunday with 17,740 deaths, the highest in Southeast Asia.
HONG KONG: Former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui said on Sunday (Dec 6) his local bank accounts appeared to have been frozen after fled to Britain with his family to continue his pro-democracy activities.
Hui told Reuters via social media WhatsApp that bank accounts belonging to him, his wife and his parents at Bank of China Hong Kong, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank were frozen. He gave no further details.
Democracy activists say conditions have worsened in the former British colony after China imposed security legislation on the financial hub in June, making anything Beijing regards as subversion, secession, terrorism or colluding with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.
China, which promises Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, denies curbing rights and freedoms, but authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing have moved swiftly to quash dissent after anti-government protests erupted last year and engulfed the city.
Local media reported that at least five accounts worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars belonging to Hui and his family had been inaccessible since Saturday.
Hui contacted the banks and was told there were "remarks" placed on his accounts, but the staff refused to provide further information, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported.
"We do not comment on the details of individual accounts," a Hang Seng Bank spokesman told Reuters by email. HSBC and Bank of China did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hong Kong police said late on Sunday that they were investigating a Hong Kong person, who had absconded overseas with bank accounts being frozen, for suspected money laundering and possible violation of the new national security law.
It was not immediately clear who police were referring to.
Hui said on Thursday he had fled Hong Kong after facing criminal charges and would seek exile in Britain.
One of the pro-democracy activists arrested last month and charged with disturbing legislature proceedings, Hui arrived in Copenhagen last week on an invitation from Danish lawmakers.
Hong Kong's Security Bureau issued a statement on Friday that, while not naming Hui, said "running away by jumping bail and using various excuses such as so-called 'exile' to avoid one's responsibility is a shameful, hypocritical and cowardly act of recoil".
Hui was one of several opposition lawmakers who quit Hong Kong's Legislative Council last month in protest at the dismissal of four colleagues in what they called another push by Beijing to suppress democracy in the city.
HONG KONG: Former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui said on Sunday (Dec 6) his local bank accounts appeared to have been frozen after fled to Britain with his family to continue his pro-democracy activities.
Hui told Reuters via social media WhatsApp that bank accounts belonging to him, his wife and his parents at Bank of China Hong Kong, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank were frozen. He gave no further details.
Democracy activists say conditions have worsened in the former British colony after China imposed security legislation on the financial hub in June, making anything Beijing regards as subversion, secession, terrorism or colluding with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison.
China, which promises Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, denies curbing rights and freedoms, but authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing have moved swiftly to quash dissent after anti-government protests erupted last year and engulfed the city.
Local media reported that at least five accounts worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars belonging to Hui and his family had been inaccessible since Saturday.
Hui contacted the banks and was told there were "remarks" placed on his accounts, but the staff refused to provide further information, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported.
"We do not comment on the details of individual accounts," a Hang Seng Bank spokesman told Reuters by email. HSBC and Bank of China did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hong Kong police said late on Sunday that they were investigating a Hong Kong person, who had absconded overseas with bank accounts being frozen, for suspected money laundering and possible violation of the new national security law.
It was not immediately clear who police were referring to.
Hui said on Thursday he had fled Hong Kong after facing criminal charges and would seek exile in Britain.
One of the pro-democracy activists arrested last month and charged with disturbing legislature proceedings, Hui arrived in Copenhagen last week on an invitation from Danish lawmakers.
Hong Kong's Security Bureau issued a statement on Friday that, while not naming Hui, said "running away by jumping bail and using various excuses such as so-called 'exile' to avoid one's responsibility is a shameful, hypocritical and cowardly act of recoil".
Hui was one of several opposition lawmakers who quit Hong Kong's Legislative Council last month in protest at the dismissal of four colleagues in what they called another push by Beijing to suppress democracy in the city.
SINGAPORE - Singapore is continuing to seek new regions to establish travel bubbles with, even as the launch of the first such arrangement with Hong Kong remains on hold, Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Sunday (Dec 6).
Countries that the Republic has unilaterally opened its borders to make natural partners for potential air travel bubbles, Mr Ong told reporters on the sidelines of a community event.
Travellers from these countries need not serve a stay-home notice, but must apply for an Air Travel Pass, test negative on arrival and download and use the TraceTogether app while here.
"We hope they will reciprocate. They can look at Singapore's numbers - we are really controlling the virus quite well for now... Hopefully, I think, sometime next year, different partners will be willing to open up travel bubbles," Mr Ong said.
"We can't close forever. Everybody knows that."
The start date for the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble, initially set for Nov 22, will be reviewed between Christmas and New Year, he said.
"Looking at it between my counterpart and I, we decided there's no point in trying to give any hope that it can be commenced in the middle of the month," Mr Ong said.
Hong Kong reported 101 new cases on Saturday (Dec 5) as the city faces a new wave of infections and tighter measures to curb its spread.
"I think it is the correct thing to do because you can see right now the cases are at this level - they are not spiking very high, which we are happy to see, but at the same time it's maintaining at a certain level," Mr Ong said.
"As for other partners, we are constantly looking."
VALDOSTA,Georgia: Donald Trump launched into another litany of baseless claims that the US presidential election was stolen from him at his first post-poll rally on Saturday (Dec 5), telling the crowd he would still end up winning.
"We're winning this election," Trump said at the rally in Valdosta, Georgia, adding later that "we will still win it."
"It's rigged. It's a fixed deal," he said of President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
Despite surging cases of Covid-19 nationwide, few masks could be seen at the rally and many in the crowd were not abiding by social-distancing measures.
Trump was joined by first lady Melania Trump, who gave a short speech before the president's.
The former reality show star was campaigning in Georgia on behalf of two Republican Senate candidates facing a hugely important runoff on Jan 5.
The runoff races will decide which party controls the US Senate, and Trump continued his fear-mongering about rival Democrats.
"The voters of Georgia will determine which party runs every committee, writes every piece of legislation, controls every single taxpayer dollar," he said.
"Very simply, you will decide whether your children will grow up in a socialist country or whether they will grow up in a free country."
There had been concerns from some Republicans over whether Trump's continuing claims of fraud would drive down voter turnout among Republicans in the upcoming election, making his appearance somewhat of a gamble.
LOST TO BIDEN BY 12,000 VOTES IN GEORGIA
Trump made clear he was neither ready to concede to Biden nor give up on his baseless claims of fraud dismissed by a long line of courts.
Biden won Georgia by just under 12,000 votes, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1992 to win the Republican stronghold.
That result, while narrow, has been confirmed by subsequent recounts, making all the more surprising a phone call Saturday from Trump to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp reportedly urging him to press state legislators to overturn the result.
Yet at a time when most defeated presidents would be working to burnish their legacy, Trump - who has yet to concede to Biden - has barely left the White House, sending out a stream of angry tweets challenging the result and demanding that Republicans nationwide defend him.
The stakes in the run-off elections are sky-high. Former president Barack Obama laid them out at a virtual rally on Friday, saying that "the special election in Georgia is going to determine ultimately the course of the Biden presidency."
If Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeat Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the Senate will be evenly divided at 50-50, meaning Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris would cast any deciding votes, as the Constitution dictates.
The race has drawn enormous attention. One measure of the intense interest: With donations pouring in from across the country, the candidates have already spent more than US$315 million, the AdImpact website reported, an astounding figure for senatorial races.
And figures as prominent as Obama, Vice President Mike Pence and now Trump himself are scrambling to boost voter turnout.
MIXED MESSAGING
But Trump has placed himself in a difficult spot. Since Biden won the Nov 3 election, the president has repeatedly, and baselessly, attacked the US electoral system as riddled with "fraud."
Despite an overwhelming series of setbacks in the courts, the president and his lawyers have advanced wild conspiracy theories (one involving long-dead Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez) to explain Biden's victory.
Now analysts say he might have created a political monster - having undercut Georgia voters' faith in the election system just as he needs them to turn out on Jan 5.
A headline in the Valdosta Daily Times summed up the conflicted feeling among area voters: "Trump in Valdosta: S.Ga. excited, outraged by presidential visit."
VIRUS RECORD
Part of the "outrage" stems from the notion of yet another mass Trump rally coming on a day when the banner headline in the Atlanta Journal Constitution reads: "State sets single-day virus record."
Masks will be required and temperatures taken at the airport rally, local media reported, though public health officials say such mass gatherings always carry risk.
Trump's ability to excite his supporters remains powerful, and he thrives on the campaign rally setting.
Vice President Mike Pence addressed this Dec 4, 2020 rally in Savannah, Georgia in support of two Republicans facing a runoff with national implications. (Photo: AFP/Spencer Platt)
But some voters even in long conservative Georgia are expressing weariness over the constant drama surrounding the president.
Analysts said it could make a crucial difference whether Trump, in Valdosta, merely repeats his litany of election grievances or instead addresses the importance of maintaining Senate control.
"It will be good for the rally if it's about Perdue and Kelley Loeffler and how we need to go vote," Spud Bowen, a Republican businessman from Tifton, Georgia, told the Valdosta Daily Times, "but I am certainly not in the mood to hear any more name-calling."
THIN LINE
Loeffler and Perdue have moved cautiously, urging Georgians to vote without directly challenging Trump's angry complaints.
But Trump has not made things easier for Georgia Republicans, angrily attacking officials in his own party over his loss there, starting with Governor Brian Kemp.
"I'm ashamed that I endorsed him," Trump said of Kemp, furious that the governor did not denounce Republican secretary of state Brad Raffensperger - branded an "enemy of the state" by the president - for certifying the election.
The president phoned Kemp early Saturday in what the Washington Post called a "brazen effort" to interfere in the long-settled election.
The Post said Kemp, once a devoted Trump ally, had refused the entreaty. His office confirmed the call, the Post said, if not its contents.
Kemp's office said earlier he would not attend the rally Saturday, after a young Loeffler staff member and close family friend of Kemp's, Harrison Deal, died in a car crash Friday.
For the 74-year-old Trump, who is considering a fresh White House run in 2024, the Georgia rally represents a gamble.
His performance there could boost his political chances, said conservative commentator Marc Thiessen.
But "if he lets Democrats take back the Senate because he was focused on rooting out some mythical communist conspiracy to steal the 2020 election, he will go down in ignominy," Thiessen wrote in the Washington Post
