69-year-old unvaccinated Singaporean man dies from Covid-19; 3 new clusters announced - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - A 69-year-old Singaporean died from complications due to Covid-19 on Wednesday (Aug 11).

The man, who was not vaccinated, developed symptoms on July 28 and was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital the next day, where he tested positive for the coronavirus, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday night in its daily update.

He had a history of stroke, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and high cholesterol.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Singapore to 43.

Three new clusters were also announced by the ministry. One is at Superland Pre-School in Kreta Ayer Community Centre, with four cases linked to it.

The other two are linked to two cases, and have a total of nine infections linked to them.

A total of 63 new cases were announced on Wednesday. Two of these were imported, while the other 61 are locally transmitted.

Of the locally transmitted cases, 17 are currently unlinked.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased to 448 cases in the past week, from 758 cases in the week before.

The number of unlinked cases in the community has also fallen to 129 cases in the past week, from 227 cases in the week before.

Currently, 508 cases are warded in hospital. There are 35 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation, and eight people are in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU).

This is a drop from 11 in the ICU on Tuesday. Out of the 43 serious cases, seven are fully vaccinated.

Of those who have fallen very ill, 36 are seniors above 60 years of age, of whom 29 are completely unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

"There is continuing evidence that almost all fully vaccinated individuals do not suffer serious disease when infected, unless if they had underlying medical conditions that made them more susceptible," said MOH.

It added that over the last 28 days, 8.7 per cent of those who are unvaccinated became severely ill or died, while the proportion of those fully vaccinated in this category is 0.9 per cent.

As at Tuesday, a total of 8,193,151 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme, covering 4,383,631 individuals, with 3,936,162 people having completed the full vaccination regimen.

In addition, 138,879 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organisation's Emergency Use Listing have been administered, covering 82,406 individuals.

In total, 72 per cent of those here have received two doses of the vaccines, and 81 per cent have received at least one dose.

Read the full MOH press release here.

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2021-08-11 14:21:12Z
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69-year-old man dies from COVID-19 complications; 61 new locally transmitted cases in Singapore - CNA

THREE NEW CLUSTERS

Three new COVID-19 clusters were identified, including a cluster of four cases linked to Superland pre-school at Kreta Ayer Community Centre. MOH did not provide details on the other two new clusters.

Two more infections were linked to the cluster at Jurong Fishery Port/Hong Lim Market and Food Centre, bringing the size of the cluster to 1,151 cases. It remains the largest active cluster in Singapore.

Eight more cases were linked to the cluster at Westlite Juniper Dormitory, taking it to 47 infections.

There were 118 active clusters in Singapore as of Wednesday.

Overall, the number of new cases in the community has decreased to 448 cases in the past week from 758 cases in the week before, said MOH.

The number of unlinked cases in the community also decreased to 129 cases in the past week from 227 cases in the week before.

EIGHT IN CRITICAL CONDITION

A total of 508 cases were warded in hospital. There were eight cases in critical condition in the intensive care unit and 35 cases of serious illness requiring oxygen supplementation.

Of the 43 cases, seven were fully vaccinated. Those who have fallen very ill included 36 people above the age of 60, of whom 29 were partially vaccinated or completely not vaccinated.

"There is continuing evidence that almost all fully-vaccinated individuals do not suffer serious disease when infected, unless if they had underlying medical conditions that made them more susceptible," said MOH.

Over the last 28 days, the percentage of unvaccinated local cases who became severely ill or died was 8.7 per cent, while that for the fully vaccinated was 0.9 per cent.

72 PER CENT OF POPULATION FULLY VACCINATED

More than 8.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination programme, with 3,936,162 people having completed the full vaccination regimen as of Tuesday.

In addition, 138,879 doses of other vaccines recognised in the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing have been administered as of Tuesday, covering 82,406 people.

In total, about 72 per cent of Singapore's population has completed their full regimen or received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, while 81 per cent has received at least one dose.

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2021-08-11 14:31:35Z
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Malaysia's King asks PM Muhyiddin to bring forward vote of confidence: Reports - CNA

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2021-08-11 13:17:56Z
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South Korea adopts electronic travel authorisation to stave off infectious disease - CNA

SEOUL: South Korea is implementing for the first time an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system for overseas visitors from September, as the COVID-19 pandemic forces open the way for a policy previously opposed by the country's tourism industry.

The justice ministry said the system will be a long-term way to pre-emptively head off any contagious disease as well as limit the number of undocumented immigrants, which had risen in the years before the pandemic.

Most visa waivers were suspended as the pandemic worsened in April 2020.

When border controls ease, the ETA system will be in place to help prevent the entry of infectious disease to the country by requiring travellers to share their previous two weeks of travel history, Justice Minister Park Beom-kye told Reuters in an interview.

It will also enable a prompt entry ban on a certain country if and when a contagious outbreak occurs, Park said.

"As the procedure allows foreigners wishing to enter South Korea to acquire travel permit electronically in advance, it will serve as an efficient method that can effectively prevent COVID-19 pandemic or other variants and in times when a new type of infectious disease emerges," Park said.

A pilot programme has been in place since May, and the full system will be implemented on Sep 1. South Korea will be the fifth country to adopt an ETA, an automated system used to identify in advance the eligibility of visitors to enter the country without a visa, Park said.

The system will help sharply cut customs and processing times for travellers and make it a lot more convenient, he added. Before travelling, visitors will need to fill out an online application and pay a 10,000 won (US$8.64) fee. An ETA will be valid for two years with multiple entries.

The implementation of ETA also comes amid a spike in the number of undocumented immigrants from countries with visa waivers that jumped to 207,000 in 2019 from 82,000 in 2016, according to the ministry data.

Under the current visa waiver programme, 112 nations were originally eligible for the ETA.

The ETA will initially start with visitors from 49 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

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2021-08-11 08:30:26Z
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World's rarest rabbit rescued in Indonesia after it was put up for sale on Facebook - CNA

JAKARTA: A Sumatran striped rabbit, widely considered to be the rarest rabbit in the world, has been rescued by Indonesian wildlife officials after it was spotted by accident on Facebook.

The vulnerable species is known only from a dozen specimens collected in the early 20th century which are now sitting in a Dutch museum. Since then, there have only been occasional sightings in the wild and a handful of camera trap images.

The rabbit is thought to be the rarest species among all lagomorphs (rabbits, hares and pikas). 

They are so rare that when one appeared on Facebook, the conservation community as well as officials from the Kerinci Seblat National Park in the Indonesian island of Sumatra were quick to track down the would-be seller and rescue the priceless animal.

The rabbit was held in safe custody by the time officials met the would-be seller, a farmer who captured the animal opportunistically at the edge of the park next to a river that had just flooded violently. The rabbit had a slight injury to its flank – possibly sustained during the flash flood.

Deborah Martyr, a programme manager from Fauna & Flora International (FFI) who advises the park’s Tiger Protection & Conservation Units, said this unexpected opportunity to eyeball such an elusive species has an enormous scientific significance.

“Very little is known about this animal, other than that it shows a marked preference for mossy hill and submontane forest. The only specimens from Sumatra date back to the Dutch colonial period – and are in the Netherlands, not Indonesia,” she said in a statement issued by FFI.

Martyr said officials from the national park explained to the farmer what he had in his possession. “Once the farmer who caught this rabbit understood its rarity, he was happy to see it returned to the national park,” she said.

The rare rabbit has now been safely released back into the forest by the park rangers, at a site chosen on the basis of existing camera trap data.

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2021-08-11 03:33:30Z
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Crucial day as Malaysian PM Muhyiddin is set to meet King, PN allies - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin faces a crucial day on Wednesday (Aug 11), after opponents ramped up pressure this week in a bid to prove to Malaysia's King that the government's majority has evaporated.

Not only will the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president have a pre-Cabinet audience with Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, but he is also due to meet chiefs of his beleaguered Perikatan Nasional (PN) pact in the afternoon after a week where the premier appears to have slipped even further from the target of more than half the 220 members of Parliament, where two seats remain vacant.

The Straits Times reported on Tuesday that letters representing the 105 MPs of the opposition were sent to the palace on Monday, confirming they reject Tan Sri Muhyiddin's leadership.

This added to the 13 Umno statutory declarations that were made public at the same time in an effort to coax the King to request that the Prime Minister resign.

Despite 11 Umno MPs withdrawing from his government last Tuesday, Mr Muhyiddin said the next day that he informed Sultan Abdullah he was convinced he still had a majority based on statutory declarations he possessed, and that the monarch had agreed to the matter being determined in a parliamentary confidence vote next month.

But critics accused him of misleading the King, who had summoned the premier to discuss whether he should resign as constitutionally required when the prime minister loses his parliamentary majority.

Should Sultan Abdullah be satisfied from the declarations he has received that Mr Muhyiddin no longer commands the confidence of the majority of MPs, he can appoint a successor to lead until the next elections which must be held in two years.

According to precedent, the sovereign may do so whether or not the incumbent offers his resignation.

Alternatively, Parliament can be dissolved to pave way for elections in 60 days. Previously, fears of stoking an already raging Covid-19 pandemic as seen after the Sabah polls last year had precluded both the palace and politicians from advocating this option. However, the government has repeatedly insisted all adults will be vaccinated by the end of October, and close to 70 per cent have already received at least one dose.

But given that not all 105 opposition MPs have sent in personally signed declarations disavowing support for Mr Muhyiddin, he could still hang on until the confidence vote is held.

However, there have been growing calls for the parliamentary sitting to be brought forward, and Sultan Abdullah may press the Prime Minister to do so.

On Monday, Umno uploaded two letters sent by party chief Zahid Hamidi to the palace last week, informing Sultan Abdullah that 14 of the party's 38 lawmakers had withdrawn support from the government, along with 13 statutory declarations.

Deputy premier Ismail Sabri Yaakob - who leads a band of Umno MPs refusing to quit government - had insisted last Friday that 31 out of 42 lawmakers from the Umno-led Barisan Nasional remained steadfast behind the coalition's decision early last year to form the Muhyiddin-led government until fresh elections are held.

But the Umno vice-president's claim has been in doubt after at least three MPs named among the 31 insisted they had not taken such a stand.

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2021-08-11 01:16:20Z
CAIiEKr048boR7Ze0PTykLwceOwqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow_7X3CjCh49YCMMa2pwU

Some unvaccinated people not moved by 'pressure' of new Covid-19 rules; those allergic hope for exceptions - TODAYonline

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1. Some unvaccinated people not moved by 'pressure' of new Covid-19 rules; those allergic hope for exceptions  TODAYonline
2. 53 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Singapore; 13 clusters closed  CNA
3. New Covid-19 cases in Singapore fall for fifth day in a row, with 11 in ICU  The Straits Times
4. New Covid-19 cases in Singapore fall for fifth day in a row  AsiaOne
5. Singapore hits 70% full vaccination as rules start to ease  Yahoo Singapore News
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2021-08-10 15:26:37Z
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