Health

Australia urged its citizens not to travel abroad and warned those already overseas to rush home as it took unprecedented steps on Wednesday to choke off the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison also ordered a halt to “non-essential” indoor gatherings of more than 100 people, on top of an existing ban on outdoor events of more …

The Ministry of Public Health insists there will be sufficient hospital beds to accommodate Covid-19 patients, saying 400 will be ready in hospitals in Bangkok by this week. Dr Somsak Akhasilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services under the ministry, told media on Tuesday that the public had no reason to worry about a shortage of hospital beds to …

Millions of people woke up confused, confined and frustrated in the Philippines on Tuesday, as a sweeping home quarantine order kicked in with just a few hours of warning, and Southeast Asia prepared tighter measures against a surge in coronavirus cases. With many unaware that half the population of 107 million had been told to stay home for a month, …

The Department of Health (DOH) has reported 45 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19), taking the country’s number of cases to 187. The DOH has yet to provide further information on the 45 new confirmed cases. So far the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 has remained at 12. Meanwhile, another patient who has recovered from the …

An association of chest physicians is calling on the government to prepare for Covid-19 to become a “Stage 3”, full-blown epidemic in Thailand while slamming the authorities’ slow response to the spread of the disease. The Thoracic Society of Thailand issued an emotionally charged statement warning that the country might not be equipped to deal with a drastic escalation in …

The body of a Chinese man who fell to his death from a Bangkok hotel on Friday was left at the scene for more than six hours because rescuers were afraid of contracting coronavirus if they handled it. The 39-year-old man, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, fell from the sixth floor of the seven-storey building in Makkasan, …

The Public Health Ministry on Friday reported five new local cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), all linked to people arriving from Hong Kong and South Korea. Dr Sukhum Karnchanapimai, permanent secretary for health, said the new cases were cluster infections. Two were a woman, 36, and a man, 37, who went to a pub in a group of 15 …

A month long lockdown in the Philippine capital to contain the spread of coronavirus is set to curb economic growth and make an interest-rate cut next week more likely. Growth could weaken to below 6% in the first quarter of the year, according to Nicholas Mapa, an economist at ING Bank in Manila. With more than 12 million people, the …

Singapore ceased port calls for all cruise vessels and will bar the entry and transit of visitors with recent travel history to Italy, France, Spain and Germany. New York City declared a state of emergency, bringing the financial and cultural capital of the US to a standstill. French President Emmanuel Macron called the coronavirus the epidemic of the century and …

The Public Health Ministry on Thursday insisted that the country has yet to enter Stage 3 of the coronavirus outbreak, despite the discovery of a new cluster of infections which brought the total number of cases in Thailand to 70. The permanent secretary for public health, Sukhum Kanchanaphimai, made the remark after 11 people tested positive following a night out …