The public health department office in Southern Thailand’s Yala Province has verified 40 new covid-19 cases after thorough testing. The cases include those recently returned for Ramadan from neighbouring countries. Provincial health department chief Songkran Maichum said on Sunday that intense testing since April 20 had uncovered 40 new cases, now confirmed in lab results. Four new cases were found in …

KUALA LUMPUR – On the first day of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) in an effort to ease restrictions and kickstart the country’s economy, Malaysians mostly refrained crowded areas and commuting using public rail transport system and buses. Restaurants, supermarkets remained empty while several major rail stations in the city centre did not experienced major morning rush-hour traffic. Cheras …

The education gap dividing the haves and the have nots threatens to become worse as schools go to online classes due to Covid-19. When the virus first hit Thailand, schools were quickly shut down. But as the Covid-19 situation has been under control to an extent, the Education Ministry’s Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) decided to let individual schools decide whether …

SINGAPORE – Madam Yap Lay Hong, 102, Singapore’s oldest COVID-19 patient, has been discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on May 1 (Friday). Madam Yap was 16 residents at an old age home who were tested positive for the virus. A cluster that led the government to ban visitors to all nursing and old age homes last April. On Friday, …

The pandemic virus has challenged medical researchers in stepping up to new strategies to combat COVID-19. One of these is the “Stem cell treatment, also known as regenerative medicine, uses stem cells or their variants to facilitate the healing process to diseased, damaged, or wounded tissue. It is the next step of organ transplantation which uses cells that are small …

Vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 are currently being researched and developed. Scientists are also trying other alternatives that are more practical and brief by using the blood plasma of patients recovering from COVID-19 as a ‘medicine’. The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) for Jakarta region, expressed willingness to collect blood of recovered COVID-19 patients for trial of treatment using convalescent blood …

The International Golf Federation and International Olympic Committee have announced an adjustment to the qualifying system for the Tokyo2020 Olympic Games to accommodate the new dates of competition in 2021. In light of the one-year delay, athletes now will accumulate Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR) points through a period ending on 21 June 2021 for the men and 28 June 2021 for …

HANOI – Vietnam has reported less than 300 cases of Covid-19 without fatality since January 2020, according to official records. The country with a population of 95 million, Vietnam is quietly winning its war against the virus by implementing early measures such as sealing the borders, quarantined masses of people, used soldiers and police to track down potential infections and …

PHNOM PENH – Up to 130 factories in Cambodia have suspended operations due to massive decline in sales brought upon by Covid-19 pandemic. Labour Ministry secretary of state and spokesman Heng Sour said in a press conference most of these garments are being exported to European countries and the United States as its major markets. “Cambodia has yet to receive …

Metro Manila – Marikina City’s COVID-19 testing laboratory has finally been accredited by The Department of Health (DOH), Mayor Marcelino Teodoro announced on Thursday, April 30. The local government got the approval a month after they first set up its Covid-19 testing lab to help to satisfy the standards required by the Health department.   “It is one of the …