Coronavirus: nine Britons charged over Singapore yacht party; cases in Tokyo may have jumped nine-fold

Nine Britons could face jail in Singapore after being charged on Friday with breaking coronavirus rules over a party on a yacht where revellers danced in swimwear and Santa hats. Images of the Boxing Day festivities on the vessel went viral on social media, sparking fury from Singaporeans and prompting authorities to launch an investigation. At that time, gatherings outside the home were limited to only five people under curbs to prevent the spread of the virus. Anyone found to have breached the rules may be fined up to S$10,000 (US$7,500) or jailed for up to six months, or both. Singapore limits police use of TraceTogether data after outcry Singapore maritime authorities last month suspended the licence of the vessel chartered for the party for 30 days, after their investigations found the number of passengers on board breached Covid-19 rules. The city state – which has had a mild outbreak, reporting around 60,000 coronavirus cases and 29 deaths – has taken a tough stand against violations of virus restrictions. In June last year, four British men were banned from working in Singapore after going on a pub crawl in a breach of coronavirus curbs. Tokyo cases may have jumped nine-fold since summer The number of Covid-19 infections in Tokyo may have jumped by nine-fold since last summer, coronavirus antibody tests showed, as Japan tries to rein in the country’s third and most lethal wave of the pandemic ahead of the Olympics in July. Random testing on people in Japan’s capital in December showed that 0.91 per cent had antibodies to the virus, compared with about 0.1 per cent in a similar study in June, health ministry said in a report on Friday The study sampled more than 15,000 people and also showed increases in antibody rates in Osaka and Miyagi Prefecture. Reported infections in Japan have trended down in recent days but the government has signalled it would remain cautious. Japan last month imposed a one-month state of emergency for 11 areas, including Tokyo, neighbouring prefectures and the western city of Osaka. It had decided to extend the emergency in 10 of the 11 prefectures until March 7, as the medical system remained under pressure despite a decline in the number of cases. The country has had more than 390,000 cases of the coronavirus and 5,832 deaths, and is desperate to stamp out flare-ups of infection as it prepares for the summer Games, due to begin on July 23. South Korea urges caution on AstraZeneca jab for elderly A South Korean advisory board has recommended caution over the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for people over the age of 65 due to the lack of sufficient data, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Friday. “The panel advised to offer the drug to people over 18, as Europe had recommended, but advised caution over the decision to inoculate those over 65, since no sufficient data has yet been collected,” an official said. AstraZeneca sought emergency use approval on January 4 for South Korea, which aims to grant it within 40 days. What if vaccines aren’t enough for herd immunity? South Korea signed a deal in December with AstraZeneca to secure 20 million doses of its vaccine, with the first shipment expected as early as this month. Meanwhile, South Korea and vaccine maker Modernac are in discussions over a US$200 million investment by the drug maker in the country to build a factory. Former Minister of SMEs and start-ups Park Young-sun, who stepped down in January to run for Seoul mayor, made the comments in an interview with The Asia Business Daily. “Moderna has expressed its interest to invest US$200 million … and I’ll continue to participate in the discussion for a while, as I had held talks with them as a minister,” Park, was quoted as saying. Park’s campaign official said the factory is likely to be built in the capital Seoul. Australia to ease cap on returning citizens Australia’s biggest state will exit a snap five-day Covid-19 lockdown after reporting no cases for five straight days, as the national cabinet decided to lift the temporary caps on citizens returning from overseas from the middle of this month. Western Australia’s state capital Perth and southwest region, home to some two million people, will exit lockdown from 6pm local time on Friday, state Premier Mark McGowan said, adding the only reason that could change was if local cases were recorded before that time. “I’m so relieved we have got to this point and we can get businesses and our economy back open with full confidence,” McGowan told reporters in Perth. With community infections in the country remaining low over the last several days, Australia will relax caps on international arrivals. Hundreds of Australian Open players, staff isolate after virus case at hotel Australia will reinstate prior limits on international travellers allowed back each week to some states, after cutting the number by nearly half to around 3,000 in early January after the discovery of virulent new variants of the coronavirus. “From 15 February, the caps will return to the previous levels for New South Wales and Queensland. So, we will see that capacity lift again,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters. Since last March, the country’s international border has been shut to all but non-citizens and permanent residents who have to go through a two-week mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival at their expense. Australia’s second most populous state of Victoria on Friday reported no new cases bringing relief to organisers of the Australian Open tennis, due to start on February 8, after a worker at a hotel where some players were staying had contracted the virus. The quarantine hotel worker infection, reported late on Wednesday, put 500 players and staff into isolation while they were tested. Tournament officials on Friday said nearly all of them have so far tested negative for the virus. Pfizer withdraws emergency use request for vaccine in India Pfizer has withdrawn an application for emergency-use authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine in India that it has developed with Germany’s BioNTech, the company said on Friday. Pfizer, which was the first drug maker to apply for emergency use authorisation of its virus vaccine in the country, had a meeting with India’s drugs regulator on Wednesday and the decision was made after that, the US company said. “Based on the deliberations at the meeting and our understanding of additional information that the regulator may need, the company has decided to withdraw its application at this time,” it said in a statement, adding it will in the future look to resubmit its application with the additional information that the regulator requires. New Zealand resumes refugee intake New Zealand said on Friday it will start receiving refugees again this month, nearly a year after it shut its borders to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. A group of 35 refugees will arrive in February, with about 210 refugees expected to enter the country by June 30, Immigration New Zealand and officials said. “With health protocols in place and safe travel routes, we are ready to welcome small groups of refugee families as New Zealand residents to this country, to begin their new lives,” Fiona Whiteridge, general manager for refugee and migrant services at Immigration New Zealand, said in a statement. All arrivals will have to complete a 14-day stay in government-managed isolation facilities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government increased the country’s refugee intake during its first term from 1,000 people a year to 1,500, starting from July 2020. But arrivals were put on hold in March last year after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, except for a small number of priority emergency cases. New Zealand reported one new case of Covid-19 at a quarantine facility on Friday, taking the total number of active infections in the country to 62. New Zealand has reported just 1,959 confirmed cases and 25 deaths from the coronavirus to date. Reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse