ASEAN IN FOCUS

22 injured in Indonesian oil tanker fire

  MEDAN, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 22 people were injured when a crude oil tanker burst into flames at one of Indonesia’s busiest ports Monday with rescuers scrambling to reach dozens trapped on board, an official said. Two explosions were heard shortly before the blaze erupted on the 250-meter (820 foot) long Jag Leela, belching huge clouds of thick black smoke into the air. Firefighters on board another boat battled to put out the […]

6.8 magnitude quake strikes in Indonesia’s Banda Sea, no tsunami alert

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A 6.8 magnitude earthquake jolted a remote part of eastern Indonesia late Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning issued and no immediate reports of damage. The undersea quake struck at a depth of some 107 kilometers (66 miles) in the sea between Indonesia’s Maluku and East Timor at 22:50 local time (13:50 GMT). The epicenter was about 390 kilometers south of the city of […]

Vietnam kids back at school after 3-month virus break

HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Millions of schoolchildren in Vietnam returned to class on Monday after the country reported its 17th straight day of no domestically transmitted coronavirus infections. The decision to reopen schools came after the Southeast Asian nation eased social distancing measures at the end of April — with experts pointing to a decisive response involving mass quarantines and expansive contact tracing for its apparent success in containing the disease. At a school in […]

67 OFWs with COVID-19 in Singapore; 35 still admitted in hospitals, says Ambassador

  (Eagle News) – There are still 35 Filipinos out of the 67 OFWs who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore who are still admitted in various hospitals in the city-state, according to the Philippine Ambassador in Singapore, H.E. Joseph del Mar Yap. In an interview with EBC-NET25 program “ASEAN in Focus,” Ambassador Yap gave an update of the situation of overseas Filipinos in Singapore. “As of yesterday, we have 67 OFWs who have […]

Singapore’s COVID-19 cases leap to over 11,000; still country with most virus cases in Southeast Asia

  (Eagle News) – Singapore’s COVID-19 cases jumped anew, reaching more than 11,000 as more than a thousand new infections were added in one day. Singapore’s total cases reached 11,178 as of Thursday, April 23, with 12 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University’s virus dashboard on global COVID-19 cases. Because of this, Singapore remains the country with the most coronavirus infections among the ASEAN member states. On Wednesday, April 22, the COVID-19 cases […]

94 Filipinos with COVID-19 in Malaysia, 61 of them already discharged from hospitals

PHL Ambassador Jose assures Filipinos in Malaysia that PHL embassy doing its best to address their needs, concerns   (Eagle News) – Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia H.E. Charles Jose said that Filipinos who contracted COVID-19 there have reached 94, with 61 of them already recovering from the disease and discharged from hospitals in Malaysia. In an interview with EBC-NET25’s “ASEAN in Focus” program, Ambassador Jose said that the Philippine embassy there is also helping Filipinos […]

Singapore is country with the most COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia after 2nd wave of infections

  (Eagle News) – Singapore now is the country in Southeast Asia with the most number of COVID-19 cases in the region after what can be seen as a second wave of infections. It now has at least 9,125 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday, April 22, from just 2,918 cases as of April 14, based on data from the Johns Hopkins University virus dashboard on COVID-19 cases. In just a week’s time, the number […]

Myanmar releases 25,000 prisoners amid virus fears

  YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — More than a quarter of Myanmar’s prison population is being released, the president’s office announced Friday, after calls grew to ease pressure on overcrowded jails with coronavirus fears gripping the country. The Southeast Asian nation grants an annual amnesty to thousands of prisoners to mark its April New Year holiday, but this is the largest recorded in recent years. It comes as governments around the world — including the US, […]

Raincoats and donations: Indonesia’s doctors battle virus surge

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Reduced to sharing goggles and cheap raincoats, Indonesia’s under-equipped doctors are battling a tide of coronavirus infections that is overwhelming its creaky health-care system — and killing their colleagues. Two dozen doctors have died since the pandemic began in the Southeast Asian nation, and critics warn that the official death toll of 459 is way below reality in a country with some of the lowest virus testing rates in the world. […]

Thai hospitals protect babies born in a pandemic with face shields

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Fast asleep, swaddled in a towel and snug in a pink beanie, a baby born during a pandemic in a Thai hospital needs one last item to ensure its health — a face shield. Bangkok hospitals are using the shields on newborns in their maternity wards to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Thailand has detected 2,613 cases of the virus, with 41 deaths — a relatively low number despite being […]

ASEAN leaders meet online to tackle coronavirus

HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam will urge Southeast Asian leaders to set up an emergency fund to tackle the coronavirus at a summit held online on Tuesday, as the pandemic ravages the region’s tourism and export-reliant economies. Hanoi is chairing an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting on COVID-19, with the country touting its success so far in containing the virus with extensive quarantines and social distancing. Vietnam has 265 virus cases and no […]

PHL top in SE Asia with most number of COVID-19 cases, while Indonesia has most coronavirus deaths

  (Eagle News) – The Philippines becomes the country with the most number of coronavirus cases in the Southeast Asia as of Tuesday morning, April 14, 2020. Based on the data from Johns Hopkins University tracker of global cases of COVID-19, the Philippines total of 4,932 surpassed the 4,817 number of cases of Malaysia — the country which previously had the most number of cases in the region. Malaysia has 77 virus-related deaths, while the […]