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 …

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 …

The COVID-19 pandemic has been affected to several industries that have to postpone their projects. The construction of Phase 2A of the MRT railroad project starting from Thamrin to Monas has been eventually postponed. MRT JAKARTA CONSTRUCTION The MRT Jakarta Managing Director, William Sabandar, said the project is delayed for three months, which Jakarta has also been enforcing Large-Scale Social …

Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has grounded the majority of its fleet as part of the large-scale social restriction (PSBB) to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. And, the number of air travels is expected to continue to drop in May 2020, especially right through the normally busy Idul Fitri holiday at the end of the month. “We will have salary cuts and …

PUTRAJAYA – Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today that Malaysia has not had Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals have experienced re-infection of the disease. On his daily Covid-19 press conference, he said that of the total of 4,032 patients were discharged from the hospital since the disease were first identified. “So far, no reinfection. We do have maybe …

Last year, people are being called on to help enact a stringent public smoking ban imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte in the country. Many fear that the call for civilians to help municipal authorities apprehend violators could lead to vigilant violence close to that of an anti-drug movement that has led to the deaths of thousands of people accused of …

The Philippines has the world’s highest prison occupancy rate, aggravated by the war on drugs waged by the Duterte administration, under which hundreds of thousands of people have been imprisoned since July 2016. Since March 2020, thousands of people have been charged and briefly held for breaking curfews and quarantine laws, with subsequent chaotic police lockups and jails. As with …

Almost all modes of transportation in Indonesia get suspended in the wake of the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the regions that applying the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) and are the red zone areas. Lion Air Group, Lion Air, Batik Air, and Wings Air, planned to reopen its domestic flights starting May 3, 2020, after its service suspended. The …

The government plans to provide cash and production subsidies for 2.4 million poor farmers, which categorized to be poor across the country, to help them maintain their harvest and survive the COVID-19 crisis. According to Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto on Tuesday, the government will provide a monthly stipend of Rp 600,000 ($38) for the next three months in the …

The Ministry of Education and Culture is preparing at least three countermeasure policies to aid workers in the creative industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was stated by The Ministry of Education and Culture’s Director General of Culture, Hilmar Farid on Monday, April 27. “First, it must be a matter of safety because there are social restrictions in place. …