The year 2020 was a difficult year for Southeast Asia, which faced several disasters caused by severe weather events, particularly in the Philippines and Vietnam, two Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in addition to coping with the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic (ASEAN). Highlighting the urgent need to improve regional cooperation against disaster danger, in his …

PETALING JAYA: Putrajaya has been advised by a medical expert against holding a snap election this year, saying it was unnecessary and would make the situation of Covid-19 in Malaysia worse. Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar, president of the Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association, said the main priority of the government at this time should be on reducing the “relative” number …

Entering the year must be full of hopes and expectations but through the observation in the midst of a continuous pandemic, The Philippines is expected to be the last Asia-Pacific nation to fully rebound from the pandemic-induced contraction, with a recovery projected only in the fourth quarter of 2022, although other economies are set to restore all their lost production …

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases, in accordance with the Direction of President Duterte, has set up a Scientific Working Group or TWG to concentrate on the surveillance and awareness of the latest form of COVID-19 originating in the UK. In fact, IATF approved Resolution 92, which established the Technical Working Group on COVID-19 Variants …

Singapore officials have recently admitted that data can also be obtained by the police from their COVID-19 contact tracing software. According to the BBC, Parliament was notified on January 4 that the data could be used for criminal investigations. The officials had previously specifically ruled out, however, that the data would be used for something other than virus monitoring. Singapore …

Thailand’s latest round of regulations aimed at containing a fresh outbreak of coronavirus infections is expected to derail the gradual rebound of the economy from its recession in 2020. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha encouraged the people to remain at home and postpone travel after the authorities closed a number of venues in Bangkok and some other provinces this month – …

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians have been urged by a medical think tank to trust the science behind the approved vaccines, particularly the mRNA variants developed by companies such as Pfizer/BioNTech, as the effects of rejecting them have far greater health consequences. A statement by the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, endorsed by 20 medical leaders, said Malaysians need to …

KUALA LUMPUR: If the virus mutates, the Covid-19 vaccine will still be safe, an expert said last night. A consultant pediatrician at KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital, Dr. Musa Mohd Nordin, said this is because the human body itself is “intelligent” because it not only releases antibodies to destroy a virus but also creates antibodies with immune memory. Musa said that …

SINGAPORE – In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, with leisure travel grinding to a halt, several workers in Singapore find themselves in the odd situation – perhaps for the first time – of not making full use of their annual leave. While in other years these unused holiday days would have been washed out, some companies have …

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30-  Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang today called on the Cabinet to set up a special sitting of Dewan Rakyat in January to test the “runaway” third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic here. The DAP veteran said in a statement today that the 1,925 new Covid-19 cases registered in the country yesterday placed Malaysia as 35th …