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Minggu, 16 Mei 2021

India pledges to distribute more COVID-19 vaccines as states extend lockdowns - CNA

BENGALURU: Some Indian states said on Sunday (May 16) that they would extend COVID-19 lockdowns to help contain the pandemic, which has killed more than 270,000 people in the country, as the federal government pledged to bolster vaccine supplies.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in India has risen more than 4,000 for the fourth time in a week, with Sunday's 311,170 new infections representing the lowest single-day rise in more than three weeks.

Federal health officials warned against any complacency over a "plateauing" in the rise of infections, however, and urged states to add intensive care units and strengthen their medical workforces.

The northern states of Delhi and Haryana extended lockdowns, slated to end on Monday, by a week.

READ: India records more than 4,000 daily COVID-19 deaths

READ: India's once-in-a-century budget runs into trouble as COVID-19 strikes back

Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the rate of positive cases compared with overall tests carried out had come down to 10 per cent from as high as 30 per cent earlier this month.

"The gains we have made over the past week, we don't want to lose them. So we are going to extend the lockdown for another week," Kejriwal told reporters.

The southern state of Kerala, which has previously announced a lockdown extension, also introduced stricter restrictions in some districts on Saturday.

It warned that people not wearing masks where required or violating quarantine protocols faced being arrested, with drones used to help identify violators.

READ: Indian police find bodies on riverbank amid raging COVID-19

The Indian government said it would send an additional 5.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to states over the next three days.

Even though India is the world's largest vaccine-producing nation, only 141.6 million people have received at least one vaccine dose, or roughly 10 per cent of its population of 1.35 billion, according to health ministry data.

The country has fully vaccinated just over 40.4 million people, or 2.9 per cent of its population.

CYCLONE ADVANCES

India's supply of vaccine doses should rise to 516 million by July, and more than 2 billion between August to December, boosted by domestic production and imports, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said.

The country received 60,000 more doses of the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia on Sunday.

The country's average vaccination rate over seven days fell to 1.7 million on Sunday, from 1.8 million a week ago, after Maharashtra, the richest state, and Karnataka in the south put the rollout of shots on hold for adults younger than 45.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened vaccinations for all adults from May 1, doubling the number of those eligible to an estimated 800 million, though domestic production will stay largely flat until July, at about 80 million doses a month.

Authorities in Modi's western home state of Gujarat said they would halt vaccinations on Monday and Tuesday to take protective measures against a cyclone expected to hit next week.

READ: 4 dead as powerful cyclone heads for India

In the neighbouring state of Maharashtra, the government has moved COVID-19 patients at makeshift medical centres in Mumbai, on the western coast, to other hospitals as the cyclone advances towards Gujarat, the chief minister's office said.

Vaccinations were also likely to remain suspended in India's financial hub Mumbai on Monday, Reuters partner ANI reported, citing the city's mayor.

SPREAD IN RURAL AREAS

While lockdowns have helped limit cases in parts of the country that had been hit by an initial surge of infections in February and April, such as Maharashtra and Delhi, rural areas and some states are dealing with fresh surges.

The government issued detailed guidelines on Sunday for monitoring COVID-19 cases that were spreading in India's vast countryside.

The health ministry asked villages to look out for cases of flu-like illness and get such patients tested for COVID-19.

India's total infections have risen by more than 2 million this week, and deaths by nearly 28,000. Deaths rose by 4,077 on Sunday.

On Saturday, federal health officials said the proportion of positive tests had dipped to 19.8 per cent this week from 21.9 per cent last week, sparking hopes that daily infections had begun to stabilise.

Bodies of COVID-19 victims were found to have been dumped in some rivers, the government of the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh said in a letter seen by Reuters, in the first official acknowledgement of the alarming practice.

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2021-05-16 15:54:49Z
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Israel strikes kill 33 in Gaza ahead of UN Security Council meeting - CNA

GAZA CITY: Israeli strikes killed 33 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday (May 16), the worst reported daily death toll yet in the almost week-long clashes, as the UN Security Council prepared to meet amid global alarm at the escalating conflict.

The heaviest fighting since 2014, sparked by unrest in Jerusalem, saw the rivals again trade heavy fire, with the death toll rising to 181 in the crowded coastal enclave of Gaza since Monday and at 10 in Israel, according to authorities on either side.

Israel said Sunday morning its "continuing wave of strikes" had in the past 24 hours struck more than 90 targets across Gaza, where the destruction of a building housing news media organisations sparked an international outcry.

In Gaza, emergency teams worked to pull out bodies from vast piles of smoking rubble and toppled buildings, as relatives wailed in horror and grief.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "dismayed" by civilian casualties in Gaza and "deeply disturbed" by Israel's strike on Saturday on the tower housing the Associated Press and Al Jazeera bureaus, a spokesperson said.

READ: Media organisations demand Israel explain destruction of news offices

READ: Thousands rally across Europe to back Palestinians

Israel's army said Sunday that about 3,000 rockets had been fired from the coastal strip towards Israel, the highest rate ever recorded, of which about 450 failed launches fell in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system had intercepted over a thousand rockets, the army said, in almost a week during which Israeli residential buildings have been hit, with more than 500 people wounded.

"The intensity of the conflict is something we have not seen before, with non-stop airstrikes in densely populated Gaza and rockets reaching big cities in Israel," said the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"As a result, children are dying on both sides."

Pope Francis said the violence risked degenerating further "into a spiral of death and destruction" and said: "Where will hatred and revenge lead? Do we really think we will build peace by destroying the other?"

MEDIA OFFICES DESTROYED

The bloodiest military conflict in seven years has also sparked a wave of inter-communal violence and mob attacks between Jews and Arab-Israelis, as well as deadly clashes in the occupied West Bank, where 19 Palestinians have been killed since last Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted the infrastructure of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including by pounding a vast tunnel system with around 100 strikes, and by targeting weapon factories and storage sites.

Israeli air strikes also hit the home of Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas' political wing in the Gaza Strip, the army said, releasing a video showing plumes of smoke and intense damage, but without saying if he was killed.

At least 52 children have lost their lives in Gaza, more than 1,200 people have been reported wounded and entire buildings and city blocks reduced to rubble.

The IDF says it takes all possible precautions to avoid harming civilians and has blamed Hamas for deliberately placing military targets in densely populated areas.

One strike on Gaza killed 10 members of an extended family.

The children "didn't carry weapons, they didn't fire rockets", said Mohammad al-Hadidi, one of the grieving fathers.

Around 10,000 Gazans have fled their homes near the Israeli border for fear of a ground offensive, the UN said.

"They are sheltering in schools, mosques and other places during a global Covid-19 pandemic with limited access to water, food, hygiene and health services," UN humanitarian official Lynn Hastings said.

READ: Pope Francis denounces violence between Israel, Palestinians

Balls of flame and a cloud of debris shot into the sky Saturday afternoon as Israel's air force flattened the 13-floor Gaza building housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera and the Associated Press news agency, after giving a warning to evacuate.

Al Jazeera's Jerusalem bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, told AFP: "It is clear that those who are waging this war do not only want to spread destruction and death in Gaza, but also to silence media that are witnessing, documenting and reporting the truth."

AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said he was "shocked and horrified" by the attack.

Israeli defence officials said the building housed not only news bureaus but offices of Hamas militants.

AFP Chairman Fabrice Fries said the agency "stands in solidarity with all the media whose offices were destroyed in Gaza" and called on all parties "to respect the media's freedom to report on events".

"HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE"

The UN Security Council was due to meet at 2pm GMT (10pm Singapore time) on Sunday.

Israel ally Washington, which had blocked a UNSC meeting scheduled for Friday, has been criticised for not doing enough to stem the bloodshed.

US President Joe Biden again underscored Israel's right to defend itself in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but also expressed his "grave concern" over the violence as well as for the safety of journalists.

US Secretary for Israel-Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr was to hold talks Sunday with Israeli leaders before meeting Palestinian officials to seek a "sustainable calm", the State Department said.

The escalating conflict was sparked by unrest in Jerusalem that had simmered for weeks and led to clashes between riot police and Palestinians, fuelled by anger over planned Israeli expulsions of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of east Jerusalem.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki criticised the countries that had moved to normalise relations with Israel last year, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

"Normalisation and running towards this colonial Israeli system without achieving peace and ending the Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian lands represents support for the apartheid regime and participation in its crimes," Maliki told an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

In Gaza, the grieving father Hadidi said he had lost most of his family in a strike Saturday on a three-storey building in the Shati refugee camp that killed 10 relatives - two mothers and their four children each.

"They are striking our children - children - without prior warning," said the devastated father, whose five-month-old baby was wounded in the explosion.

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2021-05-16 12:11:15Z
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Taiwan reports 206 new domestic COVID-19 cases, authorities urge against panic buying - CNA

TAIPEI: Taiwan reported 206 new domestic COVID-19 cases on Sunday (May 16), as the island grapples with an increase in community infections.

Authorities appealed to people to avoid panic buying as new curbs on gatherings and movement took effect to rein in the spread of COVID-19.

The country raised its coronavirus alert level in the capital, Taipei, and the surrounding city on Saturday, imposing two weeks of restrictions that will shut many venues and limit gatherings.

While total infections since the pandemic began remain low at 1,682, the recent community transmissions have alarmed a population that had become accustomed to life staying close to normal, with no full lockdowns of the kind seen elsewhere.

READ: Taiwan upbeat on economic prospects despite COVID-19 spike

READ: Taipei closes entertainment venues as COVID-19 outbreak spreads

In messages late on Saturday, the president, premier and economy ministry took to Facebook to say there was no need to hoard or rush to the shops, after people scrambled to stock up on basic goods, mainly instant noodles and toilet paper.

"After more than a year of preparation, the country's anti-pandemic materials, civilian goods and raw materials are sufficient, and the stores are also operating as usual to replenish goods," President Tsai Ing-wen said.

French supermarket chain Carrefour said it was limiting purchases of items such as masks and instant noodles in its Taiwan stores, asking people to buy only what they need.

The economy ministry showed pictures of warehouses piled to the ceiling with boxes of instant noodles, saying supplies were "like a mountain" with plenty of toilet paper and canned food to go around as well.

READ: Singapore tightens border measures with Taiwan; Singaporean, PR travellers to serve 21-day stay-home notice

Premier Su Tseng-chang made a similar appeal on his Facebook page. He triggered amusement early last year, during a previous rush for toilet paper, by saying people "only have one butthole" and should calm down.

While not ordering a total lockdown, the government is urging people to stay at home as much as possible.

The health ministry brought out its dog mascot, a shiba inu called Zongchai, to reinforce the message on social media.

"Study Zongchai and stay at home," it said, showing pictures of the canine lying on the floor resting.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

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2021-05-16 07:10:29Z
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Indian police find bodies on riverbank amid raging COVID-19 - CNA

PRAYAGRAJ, India: Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washing up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they were the remains of COVID-19 victims.

In jeeps and boats, the police used portable loudspeakers with microphones asking people not to dispose of the bodies in rivers. "We are here to help you perform the last rites,” police said.

On Friday, rains exposed the cloth coverings of bodies buried in shallow sand graves on the riverbank in Prayagraj, a city in Uttar Pradesh state.

Virus Outbreak India — Bodies of suspected COVID-19 victims are seen in shallow graves buried in the sand near a cremation ground on the banks of Ganges River in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, May 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Navneet Sehgal, a state government spokesman, on Sunday denied local media reports that more than 1,000 corpses of COVID-19 victims had been recovered from rivers in the past two weeks. “I bet these bodies have nothing to do with COVID-19,” he said.

He said some villagers did not cremate their dead, as is customary, due to a Hindu tradition during some periods of religious significance and disposed of them in rivers or digging graves on riverbanks.

READ: India's daily COVID-19 deaths remain near 4,000 as police sent to halt dumping of bodies

KP Singh, a senior police officer, said authorities had earmarked a cremation ground for those who died of COVID-19 on the Prayagraj riverbank and the police were no longer allowing any burials on the riverfront.

Sehgal state authorities have found “a small number” of bodies on the riverbanks, he said, but did not give a figure.

Ramesh Kumar Singh, a member of Bondhu Mahal Samiti, a philanthropic organisation that helps cremate bodies, said the number of deaths is very high in rural areas, and poor people have been disposing of the bodies in the river because of the exorbitant cost of performing the last rites and shortage of woods. The cremation cost has tripled up to 15,000 rupees (US$210).

Health authorities last week retrieved 71 bodies that washed up on the Ganges River bank in neighbouring Bihar state.

Authorities performed post mortems but said they could not confirm the cause of death due to decomposition.

READ: India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh to spend up to US$1 billion to buy COVID-19 vaccines

A dozen corpses were also found last week buried in sand at two locations on the riverbank in Unnao district, 40km southwest of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital. District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said an investigation is underway to identify the cause of deaths.

India’s two big states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with nearly 358 million people in total, are among the worst hit in the surge sweeping through the country with devastating death tolls. Hapless villagers have been rushing the sick to nearby towns and cities for treatment, many of them dying on the way, victims of India's crumbling health care.

After hitting record highs for weeks, the number of new cases was stabilising, said Dr VK Paul, a government health expert.

The Health Ministry on Sunday reported 311,170 confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, down from 326,098 on Saturday.

It also reported 4,077 additional deaths, taking the total fatalities to 270,284. Both figures are almost certainly a vast undercount, experts say.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its developments

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2021-05-16 05:42:17Z
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Sabtu, 15 Mei 2021

Taiwan upbeat on economic prospects despite COVID-19 spike - CNA

TAIPEI: Taiwan's economic prospects are bright and growth this year will come in as expected as long as the COVID-19 situation can be brought under control quickly, the government said on Sunday (May 16), adding that the impact of a recent spike in cases was limited.

Export-dependent Taiwan raised its coronavirus alert level in the capital, Taipei, and the surrounding city on Saturday, imposing two weeks of restrictions that will shut many venues and limit gatherings after a rise in community transmissions.

In a statement after Premier Su Tseng-chang called a meeting of top economic officials, including central bank governor Yang Chin-long and Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua, Taiwan's Cabinet said they all agreed the outlook was good.

The profits of listed companies have increased significantly over last year, and export orders are also performing well, it added.

The current pandemic situation is having a short-term impact on consumers, but as long as infections can be controlled soon, added to a proposed NT$210 billion (US$7.51 billion) in government spending support, expectations for 2021 economic growth can be maintained, it said.

READ: Taiwan tightens curbs after reporting 180 new domestic COVID-19 cases

The Cabinet proposed the new spending on Thursday, though it still needs parliamentary approval.

The sudden rise in domestic cases last week spooked Taiwan's stock market.

Su urged all departments to keep a close watch on market developments and "take necessary steps for the normal operation of financial institutions and order and stability of the stock and foreign exchange markets", the Cabinet added.

Taiwan's economy grew at its fastest pace in more than a decade in the first three months of 2021 as the "work from home" boom sparked strong global demand for the island's hi-tech exports.

In March, the central bank raised its 2021 estimate for gross domestic product growth to 4.53 per cent from 3.68 per cent forecast in December and has said further upward revisions are likely.

Taiwan's manufacturers, such as the world's largest contract chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, are a key part of the global supply chain for technology giants such as Apple.

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2021-05-16 04:41:15Z
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Thousands rally across Europe to back Palestinians - CNA

LONDON: Thousands of protesters marched in support of Palestinians on Saturday (May 15) in major European cities including London, Berlin, Madrid and Paris, as the worst violence in years raged between Israel and militants in Gaza.

In London, several thousand protesters carrying placards reading "Stop Bombing Gaza" and chanting "Free Palestine" converged on Marble Arch, near the British capital's Hyde Park, to march towards the Israeli embassy.

Packed crowds stretched all along Kensington's High Street where the embassy is located.

READ: Israel strike in Gaza destroys building housing AP, Al Jazeera

READ: Malaysia, Indonesia urge UN Security Council to stop Israeli 'violence'

Organisers claimed as many as 100,000 people had gathered for the demonstration though London police said they were unable to confirm any figure.

"The group is spread across a large area which makes it impossible to count them," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.

"Officers are engaging with a group of people who have gathered for a demonstration in central London this afternoon," the police said in a separate statement, adding that a plan was in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"This time is different. This time we will not be denied any more. We are united. We have had enough of oppression," Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zomlot told the demonstrators.

"Today we are saying enough, enough with the complicity," he added.

Simon Makepace, a 61-year-old accountant told AFP he had joined the protests because "the whole world should be doing something about it, including this country".

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards in central London AFP/Tolga Akmen

"STOP WHAT'S HAPPENING"

He was critical of the United States, which he said was unfairly backing Israel, and urged Washington to "make peace and stop what's happening".

Azadeh Pyman, a 50-year-old scientist said she had been raised on the Palestinian cause by her parents and grandparents.

"I'm not Palestinian originally but my heart bleeds for Palestinians," she said. "I think it's the cause that will go from one generation to another generation, until Palestine is free."

A woman sporting the word "Palestine" in Arabic marches in Madrid AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS

In Madrid, 2,500 people, many of them young people wrapped in Palestinian flags, marched to the Puerta del Sol plaza in the city centre.

"This is not a war, it's genocide," they chanted.

"They are massacring us," said Amira Sheikh-Ali, a 37-year-old of Palestinian origin.

"We're in a situation when the Nakba is continuing in the middle of the 21st century," she said, referring to the "catastrophe", a word used by Palestinians to describe Israel's creation in 1948 when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out.

"We want to ask Spain and the European authorities not to collaborate with Israel, because with their silence, they are collaborating," said Ikhlass Abousousiane, a 25-year-old nurse of Moroccan origin.

The marches came amid the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence since a 2014 war in Gaza.

The Madrid march ended without incident AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS

READ: Death toll rises as violence rocks Gaza, Israel and West Bank

"BOYCOTT ISRAEL"

Thousands marched in Berlin and other German cities following a call by the Samidoun collective.

Three marches were authorised in Berlin's working class Neukoelln southern district, home to large numbers of people with Turkish and Arabic roots.

The protesters shouted "Boycott Israel" and threw paving stones and bottles at the police, leading to several arrests.

Other protests were held in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Hamburg.

On Tuesday, Israeli flags were burnt in front of two synagogues in Bonn and Muenster.

Police officers used tear gas and water cannon in Paris to try and disperse a pro-Palestinian rally held despite a ban by authorities.

Some threw stones or tried to set up roadblocks with construction barriers, but for the most part police pursued groups across the district while preventing any march toward the Place de la Bastille as planned.

"You want to prohibit me from showing solidarity with my people, even as my village is being bombed?" Mohammed, 23 and wearing a "Free Palestine" t-shirt, told AFP.

The march was banned Thursday over concerns of a repeat of fierce clashes that erupted at a similar Paris march during the last war in 2014, when protesters took aim at synagogues and other Israeli and Jewish targets.

No incidents were reported as thousands of people gathered for protests and marches in several other cities including Montpellier, Toulouse and Bordeaux.

DAYS OF FIGHTING

Around 500 people rallied in Athens, AFP correspondents said. Greek police used water cannon and there were minor scuffles with protesters in front of the Israeli embassy.

Israel is fighting Hamas militants in Gaza while trying to contain an outbreak of internal Jewish-Arab clashes and violence in the West Bank.

The Israeli bombardment began Monday, after Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas fired rockets towards Jerusalem.

That was in response to bloody Israeli police action at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, as well as a crackdown on protests against the planned Israeli expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in annexed east Jerusalem.

Since Monday, Israeli air and artillery strikes on Gaza have killed 139 people including 39 children, and wounded 1,000 more, health officials say.

Palestinian armed groups have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel since, killing 10 people, including a child and a soldier. More than 560 Israelis have been wounded.

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2021-05-15 17:58:48Z
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7 primary schools with COVID-19 cases to switch to home-based learning from May 17 to 28 - CNA

SINGAPORE: Seven primary schools with COVID-19 infections will move to home-based learning from Monday (May 17) until the end of the school term on May 28, the Ministry of Education said on Sunday.

This measure is taken to "safeguard students and staff and curb the risk of any transmission in our schools", the ministry said in a press release.

The schools that will move to home-based learning are:

Kong Hwa School
Palm View Primary School
St Andrew’s Junior School
St Margaret’s Primary School
St Stephen’s School
Yio Chu Kang Primary School
Yu Neng Primary School

MOE said that it is in contact with the seven schools to provide support for teachers and students in conducting online learning. Teachers are also in contact with students and parents, it said.

The ministry is "closely monitoring" the well-being of students and staff members identified as close contacts of confirmed cases, and will implement similar measures for other schools where necessary.

READ: Yio Chu Kang Primary School to conduct home-based learning after student tests positive for COVID-19

READ: 2 more primary schools conducting home-based learning after students test positive for COVID-19

CASES FROM LEARNING POINT TUITION CENTRE

The move comes amid more cases of COVID-19 emerging among primary school students linked to tuition and enrichment centres.

The Ministry of Health announced on Friday that five students (two from Kong Hwa School, one from St Andrew’s Junior School and two from St Stephen’s School) had tested positive for COVID-19. They had all attended classes run by an infected private tutor at Learning Point at Parkway Centre.

On Sunday, the ministry announced that two more students from St Andrew’s Junior School had also tested positive for COVID-19. The students, an eight-year-old and a 12-year-old who are siblings, had last shared a bus with the previous St Andrew’s Junior School case on May 11.

The siblings had symptoms such as fever or runny nose.

Timeline: How a COVID-19 cluster emerged at Learning Point tuition centre

READ: 19 new community cases in Singapore, including 8 linked to Changi Airport cluster

Another four students from Learning Point at Parkway Centre also tested positive for COVID-19 on May 15, said MOE.

Two of them are from Kong Hwa School, while the remaining two are from St Margaret’s Primary School and Yu Neng Primary School. They were all last in school on May 12.

MOE said that the remaining close contacts involving Learning Point students who attended the affected class that the tutor taught have tested negative.

The Ministry of Health's contact tracing is ongoing.

READ: COVID-19: Singapore tightens border measures with Taiwan; Singaporean, PR travellers to serve 21-day stay-home notice

READ: Food court at KKH, FairPrice at Bukit Panjang Plaza among places visited by COVID-19 cases

CASES AT EDUFIRST LEARNING CENTRE

The Yio Chu Kang Primary School student who had tested positive for COVID-19 had attended Edufirst Learning Centre at Hougang, MOE said.

Based on test results of close contacts from the same centre, a student from Palm View Primary School and a second student from Yio Chu Kang Primary School tested positive on May 15 and May 14 respectively.

Both were last in school on May 12, MOE said.

READ: COVID-19: Schools to conduct CCAs online, suspend external activities

MOE announced on Friday tighter COVID-19 measures for schools and institutes of higher learning, including conducting all co-curricular activities online and suspending all external activities.

"Students taking school buses must wear masks at all times throughout the journey and refrain from interacting with each other." MOE said.

Private tuition and enrichment centres are strongly encouraged to move lessons online during this period of heightened risk. The education ministry will step up inspections and enforcement of these locations to ensure compliance with safe management measures, it said on Sunday.

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

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2021-05-15 18:04:23Z
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