Earlier in the week, the doctors reached an agreement with the government to continue to handle coronavirus patients, but failed to find a compromise on the broader issues.

“The government now has no choice but to take necessary legal actions such as an order to open business to not put the citizens’ lives and safety in danger,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said in a briefing. “We urge all trainee and fellow doctors to immediately return to work.”

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He said the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) had rejected several of the government’s offers.

In a statement, KMA said the medical community was always open to all possibilities in talks with the government, and that the doctors did not want to have to strike.

“We sincerely do want to return,” the statement said. “We ask you citizens to listen to our voice so that we can meet our patients as soon as possible.”

KMA and KIRA members have said they oppose government plans to boost the number of medical students over several years, establish public medical schools, allow government insurance to cover more oriental medicine, and introduce more telemedicine options.

The government said its goal to increase the number of medical students by 4,000 over the next 10 years is necessary to better prepare for public health crises like the coronavirus pandemic.

Student doctors, however, said the plan would unnecessarily flood an already competitive market, and that the extra funding would be better spent improving the salaries of existing trainees, which would encourage them to move out of Seoul to rural areas where more health professionals are needed.

Virus cases surge in Myanmar, Rakhine lockdown extended

Elsewhere in Asia, Myanmar reported 70 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the highest one-day tally since the virus was first detected in the country on March 23, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.

There had been no local transmissions between July 16 and August 16, with about 200 infections detected since then. Most cases are residents of Sittwe – the capital of Rakhine State and home to a large population of the Rohingya Muslim minority – and 75 per cent of them are asymptomatic, according to the Ministry. With the latest cases, the Southeast Asian nation’s total count reached 574.

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“We have noticed the rate of infections in Rakhine State has risen quickly and expect to see many more cases in the coming two weeks,” Khin Khin Gyi, director of emerging infectious disease at the Health Ministry, said on Wednesday.

“Rakhine State has become the hotspot for infections so we assume the new variant of Covid-19 named D614G is spreading there, originating from a market,” Khin Khin Gyi said.

The official warned, citing epidemiological findings in other countries, that the new strain “could spread 10 times faster,” so the government will tighten entries and exits from Rakhine State. The government will also send in more medical workers and volunteers, strengthen capacity of hospitals and step up contract tracing and testing in public hospitals and laboratories.

In a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, Myanmar has instructed all state-run and private schools to close from Thursday.

Cinemas to reopen in Jakarta

Indonesia will soon allow cinemas in the capital Jakarta to reopen after five months as authorities look beyond rising number of infections to focus on steps to revive an economy hobbled by the coronavirus outbreak.

Movie halls will be allowed to operate with strict virus protocols such as compulsory use of face masks, and entry will be limited to film-goers in the age group of 12 to 60, according to Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

Total infections in the city of more than 10 million people jumped to 35,453 as of Wednesday, the highest number of cases among Indonesia’s 34 provinces. Infections have soared from 11,276 at the end of June after the city administration began easing social distancing rules, data from the provincial government show.

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Jakarta’s administration is due to review some other social distancing rules under a so-called transition phase expected to last until Thursday. Anies didn’t say if his administration will extend the curbs.

The world’s fourth-most populous nation remains under the grip of the pandemic with the number of cases nationwide jumping sixfold to more than 160,000 since the end of May with more than 6,900 people succumbing to the deadly disease.

India to hold college tests despite virus fears

More than 2 million Indian students will sit for admission tests to medical and engineering schools next week, the government said on Wednesday, despite growing concern that the move could fuel a jump in coronavirus infections.

India reported more than 60,000 infections, maintaining the world’s highest single-day caseload since August 7. With 3.2 million cases, it ranks after the United States and Brazil, though its 59,449 deaths are far fewer.

Now the government is pushing for a return to normalcy to lessen the economic pain, after having imposed a strict early lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people in March.

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“We are very mindful of the safety of our students, we will take full precautions,” Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal told state radio, adding that the tests had to be held to ensure students did not lose a year.

Already twice postponed this year, the tests will be spread over several days and held at more centres than usual, to ensure there is no crowding. But many students have to travel long distances and there was a risk of infections, a student group said. There are also floods caused by annual monsoon rains.

Thailand delays human vaccine trials

Thailand will delay human trials of its coronavirus vaccine due to limited production capacity at overseas facilities, a senior official said on Wednesday, but it hopes to resume trials by the end of the year.

Thai health authorities had planned human testing of the vaccine by October, but must delay that by several months as factories abroad are at full capacity, said Kiat Ruxrungtham, director of the Chulalongkorn University vaccine development programme.

The delay will be a setback for Thailand’s push to quickly create its own vaccine and comes as developers worldwide race to complete trials and secure regulatory approval.

A race is on among countries to guarantee a supply amid concern about competition for access, with Britain and the United States in the lead in securing six vaccine deals with drug makers each.

Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a budget of 1 billion baht (US$31.8 million) for vaccines, 60 per cent of which would be invested in Oxford University’s vaccine programme and the remainder in its domestic programme. Thailand has reported 3,403 confirm cases of the coronavirus and 58 deaths. It has gone without a local transmission for more than three months.

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Deadly day in Australia’s Victoria state

Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state on Wednesday recorded one of its deadliest days of the pandemic despite new Covid-19 infections continuing to trend down.

The 24 fatalities in the latest 24-hour period is the largest death toll apart from the all-time daily record of 25 set on August 17.

Victoria’s Health Department reported 149 news cases on Wednesday following 148 infections on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s count brought the weekly average to 175 new cases a day, down from 279 in the previous week.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg, Reuters