Asia
Shopping centre K11 Musea to close for two days and all staff to undergo mandatory testing after 15 new infections linked to restaurant, and Cartier worker tests preliminary-positive.
The Philippines is expecting its first shipment of Sinovac vaccines on Sunday, while over 18,000 received shots as South Korea’s vaccination programme started.
Although 600,000 Sinovac doses will be given starting next week, private firms throughout the country have secured their own vaccines.
Nigel Skea was sentenced to two weeks in jail and fined US$753 for leaving his room three times to meet his partner.
The outbreak linked to Mr Ming’s Chinese Dining at K11 Musea shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui has already ballooned to 30 infections.
Nursing home workers received the first Covid-19 vaccine shots, while Japan will lift its state of emergency in all but Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures.
With Covid-19 mostly contained in Asia, governments have been able to wait and see how safe and effective vaccines are before starting inoculations.
Mr Ming’s Chinese Dining, a restaurant in high-end shopping mall K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui, latest suspected cluster.
The woman’s death came a day before Malaysia, in defiance of a court order, deported more than 1,000 people to Myanmar.
New law will give public officials and drug makers immunity from civil and criminal suits except in cases of gross negligence and wilful misconduct.
Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said vaccine certificates will help resume international travel, while Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin was the first to be vaccinated in the country.
Manila is open to lifting the cap on health care workers going overseas if it can get Covid-19 vaccines, but Britain said it is not interested in such a deal.
Science minister Khairy Jamaluddin has become the face of Kuala Lumpur’s public health drive, and he – and PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s government – stand to benefit from its success.
Foreigners visiting Thailand may be allowed to skip the two-week isolation if they furnish vaccination certificates, Prime Minister Prayuth says.
One step forward as Chinese jab is authorised, two steps back as Pfizer and AstraZeneca demand indemnification clauses.
Sinovac vaccine is not recommended for health workers frequently exposed to the coronavirus because of its 50.4 per cent efficacy for this group, said head of Manila’s food and drug administration.
More than 30 Chinese citizens test positive for pathogen during medical assessments for overseas travel.
Elsewhere, inoculations of Japan’s elderly are to start at a slower pace, as the country received its second shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on Sunday.
Dr Thomas Tsang, a member of the government’s task force on the pandemic, says key is whether the aged with chronic illnesses have their conditions under control.