8 seniors die of Covid-19, bringing death toll to 103 in Singapore; 2909 new cases - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Eight Singaporeans aged between 66 and 96 have died from complications linked to Covid-19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (Oct 1).

They comprise seven Singaporean men and one Singaporean woman, four of whom were unvaccinated. Two were partially vaccinated, and two were inoculated against the virus.

All of them had various underlying medication conditions, said MOH.

It was the 12th straight day that deaths from Covid-19 were reported, taking Singapore's coronavirus death toll to 103.

There were 2,909 new Covid-19 infections reported on Friday, including 2,079 new infections in the community, 818 new cases in migrant worker dormitories and 12 imported cases.

The local cases included 556 seniors who are above age 60.

The total number of cases in Singapore now stands at 99,430.

MOH on Friday listed 10 active clusters that were under close monitoring. 

These include eight migrant worker dormitories, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, and Woodlands Care Home. 

New cases were reported for all 10 clusters. 

The largest one was Blue Stars Dormitory off Pioneer Road North,  which had 21 new cases, bringing the total to 442. 

MOH said the new cases have already been quarantined. 

Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre had one new case, bringing the total to 165, while Woodlands Care Home had three new cases, bringing the total to 31.

All 12 imported cases had already been placed on stay-home notice or were isolated upon arrival in Singapore.

Seven were detected upon arrival in Singapore, and five developed the illness during stay-home notice or isolation.

As at Friday, 1,356 cases are warded in hospital - four cases fewer than on Thursday.

Of these, 222 needed oxygen supplementation, and 34 are in the intensive care unit.

Of those who have fallen very ill, 214 are seniors above 60, MOH said.

Nearly 4.5 million people, or 82 per cent of the population, are fully vaccinated, and 85 per cent has received at least one dose. 

MOH said about 500,000 eligible seniors have been invited to receive their booster doses, and nearly  237,000 people have received their shots. 

Another 111,000 have booked their appointments.

Read the full MOH press release here.

Related Stories: 

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vc2luZ2Fwb3JlLzgtc2VuaW9ycy1kaWUtb2YtY292aWQtMTktYnJpbmdpbmctZGVhdGgtdG9sbC10by0xMDMtaW4tc3BvcmUtMjkwOS1uZXctY2FzZXPSAQA?oc=5

2021-10-01 15:28:31Z
52781902913213

MOH unveils new map showing Covid-19 hot spots | THE BIG STORY - The Straits Times

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9QWtkaDR6QjVVY3fSAQA?oc=5

2021-10-01 09:47:03Z
52781902913213

Australia to reopen borders from November, easing 18-month-old travel restrictions - CNA

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday (Oct 1) that an 18-month ban on Australians travelling abroad will be lifted from next month, easing one of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions imposed globally.

Reopening the international border for citizens and permanent residents will be linked to the establishment of home quarantine in Australia's eight states and territories, Morrison said, meaning that some parts of the country will reopen sooner than others.

The first phase of the plan will focus on vaccinated citizens and permanent residents being allowed to leave Australia, with further changes expected to permit foreign travellers to enter the country.

"It's time to give Australians their lives back. We've saved lives," Morrison said during a televised media conference. "We've saved livelihoods, but we must work together to ensure that Australians can reclaim the lives that they once had in this country."

Australia had shut its international border in March 2020.

Since then, only a limited number of people have been granted a permit to leave the country for critical business or humanitarian reasons. 

Citizens and permanent residents have been allowed to return from abroad, subject to quota limits and a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a hotel at their own expense. There have also been a few high-profile exceptions granted for entry for business purposes, including Hollywood actors to film movies and TV shows.

Families have been split across continents - an estimated 30,000 nationals were stranded overseas and foreign residents were stuck in the country unable to see friends or relatives.

More than 100,000 requests to enter or leave the country were denied in the first five months of this year alone, according to Department of Home Affairs data.

HOME QUARANTINE

Morrison also announced that vaccinated residents would be able to home quarantine for seven days on their return, dodging the current mandatory and costly 14-day hotel quarantine. People who are not vaccinated will be required to undertake 14 days of quarantine at a hotel when they return.

He expects the first home quarantine systems to be up and running in November, but the timetable will be set by individual states and territories.

The exact timing of the border reopenings will also depend on when Australian states reach their 80 per cent vaccination targets, and crucially on local political approval.

The most populous state of New South Wales currently has 64 per cent of those aged over 16 fully vaccinated and has indicated it will hit 70 and 80 per cent targets this month.

But most Australian states - most notably West Australia and Queensland - still have no widespread community transmission, are pursuing a strategy of "COVID-zero" and remain shut to other parts of the country.

Australian flag carrier Qantas welcomed Friday's announcement, saying it would restart flights to London and Los Angeles on Nov 14.

Morrison said his government was working towards quarantine free travel with countries such as New Zealand when "safe to do so".

An Australian government source said plans were being discussed to allow foreign visitors to enter the country, but it was not possible to yet state a timetable.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvYXVzdHJhbGlhLXJlb3Blbi1ib3JkZXJzLW5vdmVtYmVyLXNjb3R0LW1vcnJpc29uLWNvdmlkLTE5LXRyYXZlbC0yMjE0OTYx0gEA?oc=5

2021-10-01 05:37:00Z
52781912099327

12 Singapore areas marked as visited by larger number of COVID cases in new MOH map - Yahoo Singapore News

Ministry of Health's new COVID-19 situational map launched on 1 October 2021 indicating the varying concentration of cases frequently visited by them across Singapore within the past three days. (MAP: MOH)

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (1 October) unveiled its new map on the COVID-19 situation in Singapore indicating the varying concentration of cases who frequented various locations within the past three days.

North Coast, Woodlands East, Senoko South, Yunnan, Jurong West Central, Kian Teck, Jurong River, Sengkang Town Centre, Tampines East, Bedok North, Geylang East, and Aljunied are the 12 areas marked as being frequently visited by between 230 and 560 COVID cases, shown as the highest range on a colour scale in the map and are marked in red.

The other colours on the scale and the corresponding number of COVID cases are white (0 to 10), beige (10 to 35), peach (35 to 100) and orange (100 to 230).

Ministry of Health's new COVID-19 situational map launched on 1 October 2021 indicating the varying concentration of cases frequently visited by them across Singapore within the past three days. (MAP: MOH)

In a statement on 24 September, MOH said the map can help guide individuals on their movement and activities.

“Individuals who have been to these hotspots during the same timeframe are encouraged to monitor their health, perform regular ART (Antigen Rapid Test) self-tests throughout the 10 days following their potential exposure, and minimise any unnecessary interaction with others,” MOH added.

SafeEntry and TraceTogether would continue to be used to inform individuals of recent confirmed close contacts to infected persons or recent exposure to an area of increased spread through Health Risk Alerts and Health Risk Warnings.

The unveiling of the map comes as COVID-19 cases continued to surge in Singapore while the number of fatalities had also increased recently.

On Thursday, MOH confirmed a record 2,478 COVID-19 cases in Singapore – taking the country's total case count to 96,521 – and two more deaths due to the disease.

Thursday marks the third day in a row where there were over 2,000 daily new cases reported in Singapore, following 2,268 and 2,236 infections reported on Wednesday and Tuesday, respectively. It is also the ninth day in a row where fatalities from the virus were reported.

Singapore's 94th and 95th COVID-19 fatalities were a 79-year-old female permanent resident and an 87-year-old Singaporean woman, who were among 40 people to have died from the disease this month.

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

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZWh0dHBzOi8vc2cubmV3cy55YWhvby5jb20vMTItc2luZ2Fwb3JlLWFyZWFzLXZpc2l0ZWQtbGFyZ2VyLW51bWJlci1jb3ZpZC1jYXNlcy1tb2gtbWFwLTA3Mjk1NzgyMC5odG1s0gFtaHR0cHM6Ly9zZy5uZXdzLnlhaG9vLmNvbS9hbXBodG1sLzEyLXNpbmdhcG9yZS1hcmVhcy12aXNpdGVkLWxhcmdlci1udW1iZXItY292aWQtY2FzZXMtbW9oLW1hcC0wNzI5NTc4MjAuaHRtbA?oc=5

2021-10-01 07:29:57Z
52781902913213

China's Sinovac shot approved by Australia ahead of border opening - The Straits Times

MELBOURNE (BLOOMBERG) - Australia recognised China's Sinovac Biotech's Covid-19 shot and India-made AstraZeneca jabs, paving the way for overseas travellers and fee-paying foreign students who have received those vaccinations to enter the country.

The nation's top drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said the shots should be "recognised vaccines" in determining incoming travellers as being inoculated, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday (Oct 1).

Australia is starting to unwind some of the world's most intense pandemic border restrictions as vaccination rates across the country approach a key threshold of 80 per cent.

Recognition of Beijing-based Sinovac's shot, which has been approved by the World Health Organisation for emergency use, contrasts with Britain and neighbouring New Zealand, which are yet to endorse it.

A number of European countries have said they will accept the vaccine, known as CoronaVac, as part of programmes for vaccinated entry. The United States indicated similarly when it announced plans to open entry to most vaccinated foreigners last week.

Friday's announcement potentially opens the door to thousands of foreign students that have been shut out of Australia during the pandemic.

International education is a lucrative source of revenue for the country, worth A$14.6 billion (S$14.3 billion) to the state of New South Wales alone in 2019.

"Very soon, we'll be able to open those international borders again," Mr Morrison told reporters. "This will start happening from next month."

Vaccines made by Sinovac and the state-owned Sinopharm are among the most used in China, and have efficacy rates ranging from around 50 per cent to 80 per cent in preventing symptomatic Covid-19, lower than the messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines developed out of the US.

Sinovac is also one of the most-deployed Covid-19 shots globally, used from Indonesia to Brazil and Turkey.

Chile said earlier this week it would start administering it to children aged six to 11.

Covishield, the name of the AstraZeneca shot made by India's Serum Institute, was also recognised by Australia on Friday.

More than 57,000 students are estimated to be overseas, according to the government of New South Wales.

Chinese nationals are Australia's biggest source of international students, followed by those from India, Nepal and Vietnam, according to the Australian Trade Department.

The decision on Friday could also be seen as a potential olive branch from Australia, which has been on the receiving end of criticism and trade blockages from China since it asked for a global inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vYXNpYS9hdXN0cmFsaWFuei9jaGluYXMtc2lub3ZhYy1zaG90LWFwcHJvdmVkLWJ5LWF1c3RyYWxpYS1haGVhZC1vZi1ib3JkZXItb3BlbtIBAA?oc=5

2021-10-01 04:03:25Z
52781912099327

Commentary: The rise of 'mild-mannered' Fumio Kishida, Japan's next prime minister - CNA

TOKYO: Fumiko Kishida will become the next prime minister of Japan after winning a dramatic runoff in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership vote this week.

He will be Japan’s third prime minister in just over a year, replacing the deeply unpopular Yoshihide Suga, whose fortunes began to fall after he followed Shinzo Abe into the prime minister’s office last September.

In a surprise result, Kishida, a former foreign minister, narrowly beat his main rival, Taro Kono, the popular vaccine minister, 256–255 in the first round of voting by party members. The two female candidates, ultra-nationalist Sanae Takaichi and liberal Seiko Noda, meanwhile, were eliminated.

In the second round of voting, dominated by the LDP’s members in the Diet (Japan’s parliament), Takaichi’s supporters, with the backing of Abe, threw their weight behind Kishida and secured his election.

KISHIDA’S RISE THROUGH THE RANKS

The mild-mannered Kishida, 64, comes from a family of parliamentarians — both his grandfather and father were members in the Diet.

As a child, Kishida spent three years in New York when his father was posted to the US as a senior trade ministry official, where he attended public school in Queens.

After graduating from the prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo, Kishida had a short stint in banking before becoming a member of the House of Representatives in 1993.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vY29tbWVudGFyeS9mdW1pby1raXNoaWRhLWphcGFuLXByaW1lLW1pbmlzdGVyLXdoby1oZS1iYWNrZ3JvdW5kLTIyMTI0OTbSAQA?oc=5

2021-09-30 22:15:59Z
52781906937595

Commentary: What difference would nuclear submarines really make to Australia? - CNA

And why not when Australia’s current submarines represent a significant potential contribution to any alliance underwater campaign and Australia’s own defences?

Although Australia's current six Collins-class submarines long had bad press, these boats have achieved high levels of operational involvement in exercises and operations in recent years. The numbers of qualified submariners have also increased, an important condition for any future expansion.

Their ability to deploy around the region had public confirmation in early 2020 when HMAS Dechaineux became the first foreign submarine to berth in Malaysia’s submarine base at Kota Kinabalu. Other deployments range even further afield.

Progressive modernisation of sensors and systems has already started, but even now, the Collins-class are among the most capable diesel-electric boats in the world.

They are extremely stealthy when running on battery power. They are armed with the latest variant of the US Mark 48 torpedo as well as the subharpoon anti-ship missile.

The cancelled French design would have been similarly fitted with American systems and weapons. Australia will want its nuclear submarines to share US technology in the same way.

But the much greater carrying capacity of large nuclear submarines such as the US Navy’s Virginia-class, their great speed and long endurance will make them a formidable addition to Australia’s ability to project power well away from Australian territory.

The new submarines also bring gains in military-to-military ties. Though the relationship between Australia’s submarine service and the United States Navy in the Pacific is already close, cooperation with Japan, another regional maritime power with 22 very capable conventional submarines, is likely to develop in the years ahead.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vY29tbWVudGFyeS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbnVjbGVhci1zdWJtYXJpbmVzLWhvdy1kaWZmZXJlbnQtd2hhdC1pbXBhY3QtYXVrdXMtMjIwOTMwNtIBAA?oc=5

2021-09-30 22:11:53Z
52781911458110