Top seer at India religious mega-festival dies from COVID-19 - CNA

NEW DELHI: A Hindu seer has died from COVID-19 and 80 other holy men have tested positive after attending a vast Indian religious festival where millions of pilgrims have been ignoring coronavirus advice despite a national surge in infections.

The announcement from authorities in Haridwar, Uttarakhand state, came as India recorded more than 217,000 fresh cases in the past 24 hours on Friday (Apr 16), taking the total number of new infections to more than two million since Apr 1.

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A holy man arrives to bathe in the Ganges during the ongoing religious Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar. (File photo: AFP/Xavier Galiana)

The festival of Kumbh Mela has long rung alarm bells among health experts who say it could turn into a "super-spreader" as pilgrims return home to their towns and villages all across India.

A gathering on the banks of the holy river Ganges in Haridwar happens every 12 years, and has attracted as many as 25 million people to the site since January, including some 4.6 million on two auspicious days this week alone.

The enormous crowds of pilgrims - including cannabis-smoking holy men with dreadlocks - taking a dip in the river have mostly ignored official advice to maintain distancing.

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Earlier this week, Mahamandaleshwar Kapil Dev Das, 65, head of one of the Hindu akhadas, or ascetic councils, was admitted to hospital and died from COVID-19 on Thursday, officials said.

"We had around 2,000 positive cases since Monday during random testing of pilgrims at the Kumbh," Harbeer Singh, a top festival officer, told AFP.

"We are taking precautions and urging people to adhere to coronavirus prevention behaviours."

The officer said they had ramped up testing at the event's 600ha site and insisted they were strictly enforcing government protocols, including requiring negative virus certificates.

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READ: India extends record rise in COVID-19 cases, election rallies continue

READ: Day workers fill trains out of Mumbai as COVID-19 dries up jobs

Two of the 13 Hindu ascetic councils that are part of the major get-together have now pulled out over soaring COVID-19 cases in the city.

Singh said that more than 25,000 pilgrims were still visiting every day and they were expecting 2 million to 3 million devotees on the last grand bathing event on Apr 27 before the festival concludes.

The Uttarakhand state government has exempted the event from restrictions limiting gatherings to 200 people.

State Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said in early April that no devotees would be "unnecessarily harassed in the name of COVID-19 restrictions".

He too later tested positive for the virus, which has so far killed almost 175,000 Indians and infected 14.3 million, the second most in the world after the United States.

Meanwhile, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to some 240 million people, on Friday became the latest to announce restrictions on gatherings, calling a day-long lockdown on Sunday with fines of 1,000 rupees (US$14) for failing to wear a mask.

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2021-04-16 13:49:54Z
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US, Japan stress peace and stability in Taiwan Strait in first Biden-Suga meeting amid China tensions - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON - The United States and Japan called for “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” in a joint statement after US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met on Friday (April 16), a rare mention of Taiwan in the joint communiques of both countries that comes amid rising tensions with China.

It was the first time America and Japan’s top leaders have explicitly mentioned Taiwan in their joint statements since 1969, although their defence and foreign ministers similarly “underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” in a statement last month.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunified, by force if necessary, and has increasingly sent warplanes into Taiwanese airspace. Tokyo, meanwhile, sees Beijing’s actions as unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas and threats to its own security.

Washington and Tokyo said they encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues in Friday’s lengthy statement titled “US-Japan global partnership for a new era”, a document which Mr Suga called a guiding post for their alliance.

It was issued hours after Mr Biden hosted Mr Suga for talks in Washington.

Mr Suga’s visit, the first by a world leader during the Biden administration, underscored the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to the Biden administration’s foreign policy and the centrality of Japan to America’s strategy.

Both leaders highlighted the strength of their alliance and vowed to together take on challenges from China, whose increasingly assertive stance in the region has unsettled both nations.

“We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea, as well as North Korea, to ensure a future of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Mr Biden at a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden.

“We’re going to work together to prove that democracies can still compete and win in the 21st century,” he added.

New partnership

Mr Biden announced that Japan and the US had launched a new partnership named the Competitiveness and Resilience Partnership (Core), under which they would advance innovation, end the pandemic and guard against future ones, combat the climate crisis, and enhance people-to-people ties.

The US will invest US$2.5 billion (S$3.34 billion), and Japan US$2 billion, into developing and deploying 5G and next-generation mobile networks, according to a White House fact sheet on the partnership.

Mr Biden said that the US and Japan would together promote secure and reliable 5G networks, increase cooperation on supply chains for critical sectors like semiconductors, and drive research in areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

All these are areas China seeks to become dominant in, and in an implicit rebuke of Beijing, Mr Biden said: “Those technologies are governed by shared democratic norms that we both share, norms set by democracies, not by autocracies.”

While China loomed large in their discussions, Japan - which counts China as its largest trading partner and the US as its second largest - was also careful to appear not to be isolating China.

Mr Suga said that while Japan and the US will take the lead to promote the vision through concrete efforts, they will also cooperate with others in the region including Asean, Australia, and India.

He said that he and Mr Biden “had serious talks on China’s influence over the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and the world at large”, adding: “We agreed to oppose any attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East and South China Seas, and intimidation of others in the region.”

“At the same time, we agreed on the necessity for each of us to engage in frank dialogue with China,” Mr Suga added.

Mr Suga said that Mr Biden once again affirmed that Article Five of America and Japan’s security treaty applied to the Senkaku Islands, known as Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea.

Japan controls the uninhabited islands, which China also claims, and under the treaty the US is obliged to defend Japan if its territories are attacked under the treaty.

Climate change

On climate change, both nations are committed to taking aggressive action, said Mr Biden, who will next week host world leaders including Mr Suga at a virtual summit on climate change.

Japan and the US have yet to publicly release updated goals on how they will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and are expected to do so soon.

Mr Biden said that they will work together to advance clean energy technologies and help nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region decarbonise their economies.

President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for talks in Washington. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Tokyo Olympics

Mr Suga told Mr Biden that Japan would do everything in its power to contain Covid-19 infections and hold a “safe and secure” Olympic Games this year.

“Japan is listening to and learning from WHO and experts” and the country is doing its “utmost” to prepare for the Tokyo Games, Mr Suga said.

“They are doing everything possible to contain infection and to realise safe and secure games from scientific and objective perspectives,” Mr Suga said.

“I told the President about my determination to realise the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer as a symbol of global unity. President Biden once again expressed his support for this determination,” the prime minister added.

After being postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Games are due to open in July. But uncertainty about their viability has grown amid rising virus cases, and Mr Suga’s pledge of safety comes as the coronavirus crisis has complicated preparations.

Experts are warning of the risks of the Games going down in history as a super-spreader event, instead of the much-hoped-for symbol of triumph over Covid-19.

Japan on Friday expanded quasi-emergency measures to four more prefectures, bringing the total to 10, raising questions over whether the Olympics can really proceed on schedule in under 100 days.

A banner with the logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games hanging from the wall of the Tokyo Metropolitan City Hall. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

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2021-04-17 02:38:21Z
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Taiwan train accident: Driver tried to pull truck with a rope after it got stuck in bushes before fatal crash - The Straits Times

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan prosecutors on Friday (April 16) charged a truck driver with negligent homicide over his role in the island's worst rail disaster in decades that left 49 dead and more than 200 injured.

The April 2 crash was caused by a railway maintenance truck that slid down an embankment moments before a packed train came down the line in the eastern coastal city of Hualien.

The vehicle had been stuck in bushes on a nearby road before it rolled down the slope, and prosecutors said driver Li Yi-hsiang and his Vietnamese assistant tried to free it with a rope tied to a backhoe.

"Instead of seeking professional help to free the vehicle, they recklessly tried to pull it with the wrong method, which caused the vehicle to roll down the incline," said the Hualien district prosecutors office.

"They failed to immediately alert the authorities after the incident, which led to a tragedy... that caused massive damages and shocked the international community."

Li, 49, was part of a contracted railway maintenance team that regularly inspects Taiwan's mountainous eastern train line for landslides and other hazards.

His assistant, an undocumented migrant worker identified only as Hwa, and two Taiwanese supervisors of a construction site near the track were also charged with negligent homicide.

The offence is punishable by a maximum of five years in jail, prosecutors said.

Li faces an extra charge of fleeing the scene after the incident, which is punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison, they added.

Taiwanese Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung has tendered his resignation over the train crash, which plunged the island into mourning.

The last major train derailment in Taiwan was in 2018 and left 18 people dead on the same line. The train driver was later charged with negligent homicide.

Taiwan's most deadly rail disaster on record was in 1948 when a train caught fire and 64 people perished.

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2021-04-16 13:47:44Z
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Opponents of Myanmar coup form unity government, aim for 'federal democracy' - CNA

YANGON: Opponents of Myanmar's junta announced a National Unity Government on Friday (Apr 16) including ousted members of parliament and leaders of anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities, saying their aim was to end military rule and restore democracy.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since a Feb 1 coup that ousted a civilian government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, which had held power for five years and was starting its second term after a landslide election victory in November.

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People have taken to the streets day after day to demand the restoration of democracy, defying crackdowns by the security forces in which more than 700 people have been killed, according to a monitoring group.

At the same time, political leaders, including ousted members of parliament from Aung San Suu Kyi's party, have been trying to organise to show the country and the outside world that they and not the generals are the legitimate political authority.

READ: From remote part of India, Myanmar's ousted lawmakers work on challenging junta

"Please welcome the people's government," veteran democracy activist Min Ko Naing said in a 10-minute video address announcing the formation of the National Unity Government.

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While setting out few positions, Min Ko Naing said the will of the people was the unity government's priority, while acknowledging the scale of the task at hand.

"We're trying to get this out from the roots so we have to sacrifice a lot," he said, referring to the junta.

A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for comment.

READ: Myanmar group compiles junta rights abuse dossier

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The generals justified their takeover with accusations of fraud in the November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party, though the election commission dismissed the objections.

One of the unity government's primary objectives will be to win international support and recognition.

Its minister of international cooperation, Dr Sasa, told reporters the United States and Britain had recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of that country.

"We are the democratically elected leaders of Myanmar," said Sasa, who goes by one name. "So if the free and democratic world rejects us that means they reject democracy."

International pressure has also been slowly building on the Myanmar military, particularly from Western governments that have imposed limited sanctions, though the generals have a long record of dismissing what they see as outside interference.

Protesters on scooters hold up the three finger salute during a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay, in this photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source via Facebook on Apr 15, 2021. (File photo: AFP/Handout via Facebook)

The unity government released a list of office-holders including members of ethnic minorities and protest leaders, underlining the unity of purpose between the pro-democracy movement and autonomy-seeking minority communities, some of whom have battled the central government for decades.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the coup, was listed as state counsellor, the post she held in government.

The only known communication she has had with the outside world since the coup has been monitored video calls with her lawyers. A spokesman for the democratic politicians said while they could not inform her about the unity government, he was sure she was aware of what was happening.

COMMENTARY: As Myanmar coup persists, ethnic armed groups come under greater pressure to act

"SILENT STRIKE"

Sasa told Reuters the objective was to end violence, restore democracy and build a "federal democratic union". The military, while paying lip service to the idea of federalism, has long seen itself as the core power holding the country together.

Unity government leaders said they intended to form a federal army and were in talks with ethnic minority forces.

COMMENTARY: Could defecting soldiers in Myanmar bring down the military?

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of international experts including former United Nations officials, hailed the creation of the National Unity Government as historic and said it was the legitimate government.

While the politicians were announcing the unity government, other opponents of military rule observed a "silent strike" staying home to mourn those killed or wearing black in small marches in several cities and towns.

Streets in the main city of Yangon were largely deserted, residents said.

There were no immediate reports of violence at protests on Friday but six people were killed in a shootout between soldiers and a "local group" in the central town of Kani the previous day, the Myanmar Now media agency reported.

The military has also been rounding up critics. Two prominent protest organisers were arrested on Thursday.

Protesters march during a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay in this photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source via Facebook on Apr 14, 2021. (File photo: AFP/Handout via Facebook)

READ: ASEAN leaders to meet over Myanmar, chair Brunei says

The turmoil and prospect of growing conflict has alarmed Myanmar's neighbours in Southeast Asia, who have been trying to encourage talks between the rival sides.

Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar, will meet in Indonesia on Apr 24 to discuss the situation, Thai and Indonesian media reported.

Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was due to attend, a Thai broadcaster said, but the Jakarta Post said it had not been confirmed whether the summit would include representatives of the junta or the former government.

Sasa said ASEAN should not invite "murderer-in-chief" Min Aung Hlaing.

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2021-04-16 12:22:30Z
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US preparing for 1-year Covid-19 booster shots; Pfizer chief sees need for third dose - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The United States is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine and 12 months after people are initially vaccinated against Covid-19, a White House official said on Thursday (April 15).

While the duration of immunity after vaccination is being studied, booster vaccines could be needed, David Kessler, chief science officer for President Joe Biden's Covid-19 response task force told a congressional committee meeting.

"The current thinking is those who are more vulnerable will have to go first," he said.

Meanwhile, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said people will likely need a third booster dose of Covid-19 vaccines within 12 months and could need annual shots, CNBC reported based on his comments from April 1, which were made public on Thursday.

Initial data has shown that vaccines from Moderna and partners Pfizer and BioNTech SE retain most of their effectiveness for at least six months, though for how much longer has not been determined.

Even if that protection lasts far longer than six months, experts have said that rapidly spreading variants of the coronavirus and others that may emerge could lead to the need for regular booster shots similar to annual flu shots.

The United States is also tracking infections in people who have been fully vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention told the House subcommittee hearing.

Of 77 million people vaccinated in the United States, there have been 5,800 such breakthrough infections, Walensky said, including 396 people who required hospitalisation and 74 who died.

Walensky said some of these infections have occurred because the vaccinated person did not mount a strong immune response.

But the concern is that in some cases, they are occurring in people infected by more contagious virus variants.

Earlier this month, Pfizer and partner BioNTech said their vaccine was around 91 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19, citing updated trial data that included more than 12,000 people fully inoculated for at least six months.

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2021-04-15 22:53:10Z
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Scoot passenger flights barred from entering Hong Kong after two passengers tested COVID-19 positive - CNA

SINGAPORE: Scoot passenger flights departing from Singapore will not be allowed to land in Hong Kong from Friday (Apr 16) to Apr 29, the government of Hong Kong said on Thursday.

The announcement came in a daily press release providing updates and COVID-19 case numbers for the territory.

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Thursday's press release stated that a Scoot passenger flight (TR980), arriving from Singapore to Hong Kong on Apr 11, had two passengers who tested positive for COVID-19.

One passenger had also failed to comply with requirements “specified under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H),” said the release.

According to a Hong Kong government website on COVID-19, the requirements prescribed by Chapter 599H are quarantine-related.

“The DH (Department of Health) thus invoked the regulation to prohibit landing of passenger flights from Singapore operated by Scoot in Hong Kong from April 16 to 29,” said the release.

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SCOOT TO REINFORCE PROTOCOLS IN CONDUCTING DOCUMENT CHECKS

Responding to CNA's queries, Scoot confirmed the suspension of daily flights from Singapore to Hong Kong.

"Two transfer passengers on flight TR980 on Apr 11, 2021, who carried valid negative pre-departure COVID-19 test results, tested positive on arrival in Hong Kong," the airline said.

"A third transfer passenger on board the same flight had negative pre-departure COVID-19 test results, and also tested negative on arrival in Hong Kong. 

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"However, this passenger’s test and travel visa supporting documents were found to not fully meet Hong Kong’s regulatory requirements.

The airline added that it will work closely with ground handling agents to "reinforce our protocols and staff training" in conducting document checks during departure, "and to ensure that the passengers we carry are in compliance with all regulatory requirements".

Scoot also apologised to passengers who have bought tickets for the flight during the suspension period. 

"For affected passengers booked on TR980 departing from Apr 16 onwards, Scoot will provide re-booking where possible or offer a full refund.

"Scoot sincerely apologises to our customers for the inconvenience caused."

The airline added that its Hong Kong to Singapore passenger flights would not be affected.

READ: Singapore Airlines passenger flights to Hong Kong suspended after COVID-19 testing 'trigger point' breached, says CAAS

The suspension of Scoot passenger flights comes less than two weeks after the Hong Kong government had banned Singapore Airlines (SIA) passenger flights departing from Singapore from landing in Hong Kong.

This was after a passenger on SQ882, flying from Singapore to Hong Kong on Mar 31, was confirmed to have COVID-19 after being tested on arrival in the territory.

In addition, three passengers had also "failed to comply with requirements specified under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Regulation of Cross-boundary Conveyances and Travellers) Regulation (Cap. 599H)".

The ban began from Apr 3 and will end on Friday.

READ: Singapore finalising details of air travel bubble with Hong Kong, says Ong Ye Kung

On Wednesday, Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore and Hong Kong are in “active discussion” on starting the long-delayed air travel bubble between the two cities.

"We are finalising the details of our revised agreement and hope to announce our plans soon," he said in a statement issued by Singapore's Ministry of Transport.

This comes after Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the territory plans to allow only residents who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel to Singapore under the travel bubble, describing this requirement as the "basis for discussion" between the two cities. 

This is despite authorities in Singapore not requiring mandatory vaccinations for Hong Kong travellers under the arrangement, she noted. 

“We want to provide incentives to encourage Hong Kong citizens to get vaccinated," said Ms Lam. 

Mr Ong had last month said that Singapore was studying a proposal from Hong Kong to reopen borders safely, after the territory had managed to bring the pandemic under control.

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2021-04-15 10:58:54Z
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Quarantine for Covid-19 vaccinated visitors to Hong Kong, including those from S'pore, cut by 7 days - The Straits Times

HONG KONG - From as early as end-April or early May, fully vaccinated visitors to Hong Kong will have their mandatory quarantine reduced by seven days.

For travellers from low-risk areas including Singapore, Australia and New Zealand who have taken all required doses of the vaccines, their mandatory quarantine in designated hotels will be seven days instead of 14.

For those from high- and medium-risk areas, they will serve a 14-day quarantine instead of 21 days.

All of these inoculated visitors will have to self-monitor for another seven days after their quarantine, the Hong Kong government said in a release late on Wednesday (April 14).

The 21-day compulsory quarantine requirement for Hong Kong residents who fly back to the city from elsewhere, with the exception of China, remains. 

Even as Hong Kong moves to ease quarantine measures for those inoculated, officials have tightened rules for flights to reduce the “risk of importation of mutant strain of the virus from very high-risk places”.

 Starting from Wednesday, there will be a 14-day ban on any flight that has three or more confirmed cases of Covid-19, instead of the previous threshold of five cases. Cases are detected as passengers arriving in Hong Kong have to undergo mandatory tests.

The ban will also apply if two or more passengers on any two flights of the same airline from the same place to Hong Kong within a seven-day period are found to have the virus. Previously, the threshold was three infected passengers on two consecutive flights.

The 14-day flight ban also applies for another existing criteria that remains unchanged - at least one passenger confirmed to have Covid-19 by arrival test is on the same flight with one other passenger who breaches measures under the cross-boundary traveller laws.

To keep the Covid-19 variant N501Y – discovered in South Africa – out of Hong Kong as much as possible, the government said that any airline that has five confirmed cases or more of this virus variant will be banned from landing in the city for 14 days.

The government will then list the place where the plane took off from as an extremely high-risk area, which will restrict persons who have stayed in that place for more than two hours from boarding passenger flights to  Hong Kong for 14 days.

The statement said the move is to prevent persons from the relevant place from arriving in  Hong Kong via transit.

But once the 14-day period is over and the area is downgraded from "extremely high-risk" to “very high-risk”,  visitors can enter Hong Kong again, and will have to undergo the 21-day quarantine.

The development comes as Singapore and Hong Kong are finalising the details of the travel bubble. PHOTO: REUTERS

The development comes as Singapore and Hong Kong are finalising the details of the travel bubble where passengers will have to get tested to take the direct flights. 

Under the agreement, these visitors will not have to serve any quarantine.

In March, Hong Kong proposed that passengers intending to take the Singapore-Hong Kong bubble flights be vaccinated prior to their trip.

This week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Hong Kong will impose the vaccination requirement on people flying out of the city on the travel bubble flights.

Hong Kong’s daily infections have tapered to low single digits, with most of the cases in recent weeks imported.

There have been more than 11,600 confirmed cases and 209 deaths so far.

Hong Kong officials, troubled with the sluggish vaccination rate, are now aggressively pushing for residents to get the jabs by lowering the age limit.

From next Friday, residents aged 16 to 29 can book appointments. Currently, only people aged 30 and above can go for the jabs.

Those aged 18 or above can choose to take either the German-made Pfizer-BioNTech or Chinese Sinovac jabs.

Those aged 16 and 17 will have to show parental consent and can only receive the Pfizer jabs.

Hong Kong officials, troubled with the sluggish vaccination rate, are now aggressively pushing for residents to get the jabs by lowering the age limit. PHOTO: REUTERS

“The expansion will cover an additional 1.08 million Hong Kong citizens, with the city’s vaccination programme now covering a total of 6.5 million people, equivalent to 88 per cent of Hong Kong’s total population,” Secretary for Civil Service Patrick Nip, who helms the voluntary inoculation drive, said on Thursday.

He said vaccination centres offering the Pfizer vaccines  will stop operating by end September and that people who want this vaccine need to get their first shots by end of August. These jabs expire after four months.

More than 950,000 doses of vaccines have been administered to a population of 7.5 million.

To incentivise inoculation, Mrs Lam on Monday said the government will ease social distancing measures for those who are fully vaccinated. 

The move to extend dine-in services and triple the cap on number of patrons per table at an eatery where staff and customers have taken their jabs, also comes as pressure mounts on people’s livelihoods and for officials to revive the economy.

Existing measures, including mask-wearing and public gatherings of no more than four, will last till April 28.

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2021-04-15 03:24:51Z
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