JAPAN: Coronavirus cases appear to be spreading swiftly across Japan, prompting the country’s health ministry to issue a public health alert and urge residents to exercise extra caution ahead of the forthcoming long weekend and upcoming summer school breaks. Japan’s new COVID-19 cases have climbed to levels not seen since early this year, with Tokyo reporting 16,878 new cases on …

US: COVID is making a resurgence. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that the pandemic is “nowhere near ending,” and expressed alarm that the virus is running free. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern that the number of cases was increasing, putting further strain on already taxed health institutions and staff. According to a news conference, “new waves of the virus …

THAILAND: Adi Mohammad, a resident of Singapore and a lifelong motorcyclist, is an expert in his field. Until the COVID-19 outbreak made traveling abroad difficult, he spent the last two decades riding throughout the world. He was unable to travel to Thailand, his favorite vacation spot, for more than two years. A month on leave and COVID-19 guidelines that allow …

HONG KONG: There was “unnecessary bother and discomfort” for Hong Kong residents, the government said on Thursday, suspending an individual flying restriction for COVID-19-infected travelers (Jul 7). Flights have been restricted in the city more than 100 times this year. Businesses and individuals who had become accustomed to the ease and efficiency of transit in the former British colony found …

Malaysia – In the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2021 exam, a total of 9,696 applicants received exceptional scores (A+, A, and A-) in all subjects, according to Director-General of Education Datuk Nor Zamani Abdol Hamid. She stated the National Average Grade (GPN) for this year was 4.86 as she announced the SPM 2021 results here today. Better performance is indicated …

ASEAN – This weekend, most inhabitants in China’s economic capital of Shanghai will be subjected to an unexpected round of Covid-19 testing, only 10 days after a city-wide lockdown was lifted, disturbing citizens and raising fears about the effect on business. Shanghai authorities said on Thursday that owing to the identification of a few cases in the neighborhood, seven of …

Malaysia – According to Senior Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin, the Education Ministry would stop utilizing the Form 3 Assessment (PT3) this year. To replace formal testing, Radzi said his government would implement more school- and class-based evaluations. The Covid-19 outbreak, which compelled schools to shut and lessons to move online, wreaked havoc on national exams, including the PT3. “PMR (Penilaian …

UAE – According to a report that was published by the state-run news agency (WAM) on Thursday, the United Arab Emirates has announced that its National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign has been successful, achieving its objective of vaccinating one hundred percent of the people in the categories that were aimed for the campaign. The nationwide campaign intended to vaccinate and immunize …

China – Today, Beijing’s streets were bustling as people in two districts were permitted to come back to work, while Shanghai moved closer to removing its two-month-old Covid-19 lockdown, which began on Wednesday, as the number of Covid cases throughout China decreased. While the rest of the world attempts to coexist with the virus, China is the only major country to …

Korea – According to reports in the media, North Korea has eased movement restrictions that had been enforced in its capital city of Pyongyang after the government made its first admission of a Covid-19 breakout some weeks ago. The isolated country claims that the virus issue is now under control. Since the declaration of a state of emergency and the …