Students excused from physical activity for one week after getting Covid-19 vaccine: MOE - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Students at schools and institutes of higher learning have been excused from physical activity for one week after receiving the first and second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesman said on Tuesday (July 6).

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the spokesman said this has been the case since late June, prior to the start of Term 3 on June 28.

The Ministry's statement came a day after the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccinations recommended that anyone getting an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, in particular adolescents and younger men, should avoid any exercise or strenuous physical activity for a week after either dose of the vaccine.

On Tuesday, the MOE spokesman said that all physical education and co-curricular activity teachers are currently checking on the vaccination status of students before the start of physical activities.

MOE has also advised all parents and students to be mindful of any potential side effects from the vaccination.

Students who develop chest pain, shortness of breath or an abnormal heartbeat should seek medical attention promptly, said the spokesman.

"MOE will continue to work with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to closely monitor students who have experienced adverse reactions after the vaccination, so that appropriate care is given to these students promptly," he added.

The expert committee's recommendation on Monday came as HSA released its third Covid-19 vaccine safety update which said that the authority had received 12 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis in individuals following vaccination with the mRNA vaccines.

Pericarditis is the inflammation of tissue surrounding the heart, while myocarditis refers to the inflammation of the heart muscle.

Seven of the cases involved males aged below 30 years old, which is higher than expected for this age group. Half the cases occurred after the first dose and the remainder after the second one.

The committee noted that there had also been a case of a 16-year-old youth who suffered cardiac arrest shortly after taking part in a strenuous weightlifting session. This occurred six days after he received his first dose of the mRNA vaccine.

Outlining its new recommendation, the committee said: "While most persons with vaccine-related myocarditis observed locally and internationally have mild symptoms and make an uneventful recovery, it is possible that the condition may be aggravated by factors or strenuous activities that may affect the heart."

Related Stories: 

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vc2luZ2Fwb3JlL3BvbGl0aWNzL3N0dWRlbnRzLWV4Y3VzZWQtZnJvbS1waHlzaWNhbC1hY3Rpdml0eS1mb3Itb25lLXdlZWstYWZ0ZXItZ2V0dGluZy1jb3ZpZC0xOdIBAA?oc=5

2021-07-06 15:03:59Z
52781717826601

Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong unloved amid mounting regulatory risks - South China Morning Post

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong unloved amid mounting regulatory risks  South China Morning Post
2. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam dismisses concerns from US tech giants over data law  CNA
3. Hong Kong leader dismisses Big Tech privacy law fears  The Online Citizen Asia
4. Opinion | Press freedoms are crumbling across Asia. It's likely to get worse.  The Washington Post
5. Google, Facebook, Twitter may quit Hong Kong  The Straits Times
6. View Full coverage on Google News

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNjbXAuY29tL2J1c2luZXNzL21hcmtldHMvYXJ0aWNsZS8zMTM5OTYwL2hvbmcta29uZy1zdG9ja3Mtc2xpcHBlcnktc2xvcGUtaW52ZXN0b3JzLWR1bXAtY2hpbmVzZS10ZWNoLXN0b2Nrc9IBeGh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnNjbXAuY29tL2J1c2luZXNzL21hcmtldHMvYXJ0aWNsZS8zMTM5OTYwL2hvbmcta29uZy1zdG9ja3Mtc2xpcHBlcnktc2xvcGUtaW52ZXN0b3JzLWR1bXAtY2hpbmVzZS10ZWNoLXN0b2Nrcw?oc=5

2021-07-06 09:00:56Z
52781716672455

Avoid swimming, jogging first week after COVID jabs, housework safe: MOH - Yahoo Singapore News

(INFOGRAPHIC: MOH)

SINGAPORE — Swimming, cycling, jogging as well as ball and racket games were among the examples of strenuous physical activities listed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) that vaccinated individuals should avoid in the first week following their first and second COVID-19 jabs.

Housework, casual walking, and stretching, on the other hand, were deemed "safe", according to a newly released MOH advisory.

This supersedes an earlier advisory on 11 June that had recommended that vaccinated individuals, particularly adolescents and younger men, should avoid strenuous physical activity for one week after the second dose of the mRNA vaccines. 

The new advisory comes as the ministry announced that they were investigating an incident involving a 16-year-old boy who suffered a cardiac arrest after lifting weights six days into receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Prior to his collapse on Saturday, the boy had been training with weights that were above his body weight, according to the MOH. He is currently hospitalised at the National University Hospital (NUH), where he remains in critical condition at its intensive care unit.

As of 30 June, there have been 12 reports of myocarditis and pericarditis occurring in individuals following their vaccinations with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Health Sciences Authority's (HSA) third COVID-19 vaccine safety update released on Monday.

Five of the cases occurred in adults aged 30 years old and above.

The remaining seven involved males aged below 30 years old, higher than expected for the particular age group, based on background incidence rates.

"While most of the cases reported previously had occurred after dose two of their vaccination, the HSA had also started to receive reports of some cases that occurred after dose one," the expert committee on COVID-19 vaccination said on Monday.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

More Singapore stories:

Groups of five dine-in expected from 12 July: Lawrence Wong

HDB's Ethnic Integration Policy still necessary: Desmond Lee

Review of Singapore's COVID response will be more 'broad-ranging' than COI: Teo Chee Hean

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZGh0dHBzOi8vc2cubmV3cy55YWhvby5jb20vYXZvaWQtc3dpbW1pbmctam9nZ2luZy13ZWVrLWNvdmlkLXZhY2NpbmF0aW9uLWhvdXNld29yay1tb2gtMTAyNjUwODI1Lmh0bWzSAWxodHRwczovL3NnLm5ld3MueWFob28uY29tL2FtcGh0bWwvYXZvaWQtc3dpbW1pbmctam9nZ2luZy13ZWVrLWNvdmlkLXZhY2NpbmF0aW9uLWhvdXNld29yay1tb2gtMTAyNjUwODI1Lmh0bWw?oc=5

2021-07-06 10:26:50Z
52781717398214

Daily new COVID-19 cases in Indonesia could go up to 40000, says coordinating minister - CNA

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s daily COVID-19 infections could go up to 40,000, said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan on Tuesday (Jul 6).  

Speaking at a virtual joint press conference with the health minister and head of the disaster agency, Mr Pandjaitan said that the government has prepared for a "worst-case scenario" in which cases hit 40,000. 

"This number can continue to rise. Yesterday it was 29,000, it could be 40,000 or more later. 

“Therefore, we have prepared (to face) all the scenarios, regarding medicine, oxygen and hospitals. If someone previously said that we need help from abroad, we have communicated with Singapore, we also communicated with China. 

“And also communicated with other sources. So actually, we have done everything comprehensively,” said the minister without further elaborating. 

READ: Indonesia reports record daily number of COVID-19 cases and deaths

Indonesia is grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases and has recorded more than 2.3 million cases as of Tuesday morning. Among them are 61,140 deaths.

Mr Pandjaitan has been appointed by President Joko Widodo as the coordinator of the new measures called PPKM Emergency, enforced from Jul 3 to Jul 20 on the island of Java and Bali which have seen hospitals reaching full capacities. 

However, over the weekend reports emerged that several hospitals are running out of oxygen with a hospital in Yogyakarta saying that dozens of patients died during an outage of its central liquid oxygen supply. 

Mr Pandjaitan admitted that there was oxygen scarcity, but claimed that the government has received new ISO tanks from several places in Indonesia such as Morowali, Cilegon and Batam. 

He stated that they would be used to treat those who are under intensive care, while COVID-19 patients who are less severely affected will be using oxygen concentrators.

“We have now ordered 10,000, and some have started to arrive using Hercules planes from Singapore and we will also take them from other places if we feel there is still a shortage,” he said.

The minister added that the oxygen supply is enough even if the caseload reaches 50,000 or beyond.

“Maybe at worst 60,000, 70,000 cases per day. But we don't expect that to happen." 

NEW COVID-19 HOSPITALS

He also dismissed claims that the government cannot control the situation. A new COVID-19 makeshift hospital in East Jakarta will be operational on Thursday, he added. 

This is in addition to the current three COVID-19 makeshift hospitals in the capital Jakarta. 

Medical workers treat patients inside an emergency tent erected to accommodate a surge in COVID-19 cases, at Dr Sardjito Central Hospital in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Jul 4, 2021. (Photo: AP/Kalandra)

The military and police are also preparing their hospitals in Jakarta and second city Surabaya, he said. 

“So we have mustered all of our strength. No one should underestimate it, that Indonesia cannot solve problems, so far we can," he said. 

However, he added that the government would ask for help should cases surpass 40,000. 

“We are starting to approach that." 

READ: Indonesia turns to telemedicine for COVID-19 as hospitals struggle

Meanwhile, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that the new COVID-19 makeshift hospital, which has been converted from a Haj dormitory in East Jakarta, will have 900 COVID-19 isolation rooms and 50 intensive care unit beds. 

He also said that the government is going to add 7,000 new isolation rooms in the capital’s COVID-19 makeshift hospitals.

Mr Sadikin said they have anticipated a spike in COVID-19 cases in five provinces in Sumatra namely Riau, Riau Islands, Lampung, West Sumatra and South Sumatra. 

The spike is also expected to be drastic in West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan due to the contagious Delta strain, he said. 

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

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy9hc2lhL2NvdmlkLTE5LWluZG9uZXNpYS00MDAwMC1jYXNlcy1veHlnZW4tc2luZ2Fwb3JlLWNoaW5hLTE1MTY0OTQw0gEA?oc=5

2021-07-06 08:26:15Z
52781709757924

Hong Kong will assess Singapore's Covid-19 strategy before reviving travel bubble - The Straits Times

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Hong Kong will assess Singapore's new Covid-19 strategy as the two sides try to revive a quarantine-free travel corridor that was initially planned to open last November but never got off the ground.

"We need to understand more about that new strategy and whether it will have any impact on the arrangements that we have devised," Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing on Tuesday (July 6) when asked about the so-called travel bubble.

"The situation is very stable on both sides, so this is something that we will be working very closely on."

Singapore is set to loosen restrictions on activities such as dining out next week as its vaccination rate improves, and more opportunity for travel could open up further down the line.

The country plans to have two-thirds of its population of almost six million fully vaccinated by National Day on Aug 9. As the campaign gathers pace, the Government's stance has shifted towards learning to live with the virus rather than pursuing a "Covid-19-zero" approach of eliminating it altogether.

Hong Kong's vaccination rate has been slower, with only about 22 per cent of the population fully inoculated, according to Bloomberg's Vaccine Tracker.

In the most recent travel bubble plan, Hong Kong said it would be open only to its residents who were fully vaccinated, whereas Singapore did not have such a requirement.

"Now that Singapore also has a very high vaccination rate, another factor that we need to consider on top of what we have agreed previously is whether both sides should require vaccination as a condition for participating in the air travel bubble," Mrs Lam said on Tuesday.

The planned travel bubble was shelved in November after a coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong. The two sides later agreed to open it on May 26, only for that plan to collapse as well, this time due to a jump in cases in Singapore.

"On facilitating travel on a bilateral basis that is between Hong Kong and other places, I would say that Singapore is still our priority candidate for consideration," Mrs Lam said.

Related Stories: 

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYXNpYS9lYXN0LWFzaWEvaG9uZy1rb25nLXdpbGwtYXNzZXNzLXNpbmdhcG9yZXMtY292aWQtMTktc3RyYXRlZ3ktYmVmb3JlLXJldml2aW5nLXRyYXZlbC1idWJibGXSAQA?oc=5

2021-07-06 05:09:17Z
52781716672455

Malaysia's Parliament to sit for 5 days starting July 26 following calls from King for it to reconvene - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR (REUTERS) - The Malaysian government has agreed to advise the country's King that Parliament will resume for five days from July 26 to Aug 2, the office of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Monday (July 5).

The sitting will be held to present a national recovery plan to lawmakers and to amend necessary laws to conduct hybrid Parliament meetings, the office said in a statement.

Malaysia's King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, had previously conveyed his wish that Parliament sit before Aug 1 during a meeting with the Speakers of both the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament. It was the second time he had urged Parliament to sit soon.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin had previously said that Parliament would sit by September at the earliest, when the Covid-19 outbreak eases. But he has come under increasing pressure to call for a sitting following the King's comments.

Although Parliament is supposed to sit within six months of its last sitting in December, this constitutional provision is suspended during the current state of emergency, announced by the King on Jan 11. He had granted Mr Muhyiddin's request for a state of emergency to help Malaysia contain a worsening Covid-19 outbreak. But the crisis has become worse during the emergency period.

Malaysia has been under a total lockdown since June 1, with June the deadliest month since the pandemic started in the country.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYXNpYS9zZS1hc2lhL21hbGF5c2lhLXBhcmxpYW1lbnQtdG8tc2l0LWZvci1maXZlLWRheXMtc3RhcnRpbmctanVseS0yNi1wbXMtb2ZmaWNl0gEA?oc=5

2021-07-05 07:49:20Z
52781712785190

Over 17000 in S'pore received Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine; 2 non-serious adverse events reported - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - As at last Saturday (July 3), 17,296 people here have received one dose of Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Monday.

In a written response to several parliamentary questions on the vaccine by Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang), Mr Ong added that as of June 29, two non-serious adverse events relating to the Sinovac vaccine had been reported.

He did not elaborate on what the events were, but said that the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates if any significant safety concerns are detected.

The first batch of Sinovac vaccines arrived in Singapore on Feb 23, but the vaccine has yet to be approved for use in the national vaccination programme.

This is because the drugmaker has still not submitted certain data which the HSA needs to complete its evaluation of the vaccine's safety and efficacy.

Mr Ong confirmed this was still the case on Monday, in response to opposition MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied) who asked whether the vaccine could be made part of the national vaccination programme for those who have contraindications to the vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Contraindications are reasons that an individual should not continue with a particular medicine or treatment, as it may be harmful to them.

In the case of Singapore's Covid-19 vaccines, this includes those who had allergic reactions to the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or those who allergic to other vaccines and have been assessed by an expert to be unsuitable for the two vaccines.

Making Sinovac's vaccine part of the national vaccination programme would allow such individuals to get their jabs at vaccination centres and polyclinics, and to be eligible for the Vaccine Injury Financial Assistance Programme (Vifap) should they develop any adverse reactions, noted Mr Giam.

Currently, those who wish to take Sinovac's vaccine may do so only at certain private healthcare providers across the island, and are not eligible for Vifap.

Mr Giam also asked if people who have contraindications to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's vaccines but not Sinovac's could be given priority to receive Sinovac's vaccine, ahead of those who simply choose Sinovac's vaccine out of personal preference.

In his written response, Mr Ong said that as Sinovac's vaccine is still not authorised by HSA under the Pandemic Special Access Route and has not been recommended as part of the national vaccination programme by the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination, those who wish to take the jab will not be eligible for Vifap.

Noting that "only a small group" here are contraindicated to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's vaccines, Mr Ong added that sufficient stock of Sinovac's vaccine had been set aside for their priority use.

Related Stories: 

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vc2luZ2Fwb3JlL3BvbGl0aWNzL292ZXItMTcwMDAtaGVyZS1oYXZlLXJlY2VpdmVkLXNpbm92YWMtY292aWQtMTktdmFjY2luZS0yLW5vbi1zZXJpb3VzLWFkdmVyc2XSAQA?oc=5

2021-07-05 15:22:36Z
52781713834922