Past emergency measures, issued a year ago and then in January, were toothless and authorised only non-mandatory requests. The government in February toughened a law on antivirus measures to allow authorities to issue binding orders for non-essential businesses to shorten their hours or close, in exchange for compensation for those who comply and penalties for violators.

The measures this time are to include shutdown orders for bars, department stores, malls, theme parks, theatres and museums. Restaurants that do not serve alcohol and public transport services are asked to close early. Schools will stay open, but universities are asked to return to online classes.

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Mask-wearing, staying home and other measures for the general public remain non-mandatory requests, and experts worry if they will be followed.

Japan, which has had about half a million cases and 10,000 deaths, has not enforced lockdowns. But people are becoming impatient and less cooperative and have largely ignored the ongoing measures as the infections accelerated.

Osaka, the epicentre of the latest resurgence, has since April 5 been under semi-emergency status, which was expanded to 10 areas including Tokyo, a step promoted by Suga’s government as an alternative to a state of emergency with less economic damage.

Southeast Asia tightens Ramadan curbs

Southeast Asia’s biggest predominantly Muslim nations are tightening movement restrictions to avert a surge in Covid-19 infections around the Ramadan holidays.

The restrictions are aimed at avoiding a resurgence in cases similar to those playing out in other developing countries and threatening overall global growth. Indonesia will stop issuing visas for foreigners who have been in India in the past 14 days. India set the world’s daily record for cases this week, while infections are also rising in Turkey, Argentina and Brazil.

Eid al-Fitr, the biggest and busiest Muslim holiday, is usually celebrated with people reuniting with family and friends in their hometowns, sharing meals and gifts and praying together. This will be the second straight year that festivities have been muted, which could dampen growth outlooks in both countries, where consumer spending is a main driver of their economies.

“Spikes in cases are closely related to mobility, or in this case, people travelling during the long holidays,” said Siti Nadia Tarmizi, spokesperson for Indonesia’s health ministry. “We don’t want this to happen again in the Eid holiday. Every measure should be taken so that transmission of Covid-19 can be minimised as much as possible.”

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The concern comes as Indonesia and Malaysia are seeing a slowdown in their mass vaccination programmes due to a global shortage of shots. Indonesia, among the first in Southeast Asia to begin inoculating its population, will be keen to sustain its gains in slowing the virus spread. Malaysia, meanwhile, is already seeing the beginnings of a fresh wave of infections, adding 2,875 new cases on Thursday, the most in two months.

Any setback would undermine both countries’ plans for gradual economic reopening that could pave the way for a strong rebound this year.

Still, there’s growing resistance to the curbs in Indonesia, which has struggled to enforce checkpoints across its archipelago. Transport Minister Budi Karya Sumadi estimates roughly 20 million people will find ways to travel and avoid the ban, which stretches through May.

Noviendriza, a 42-year-old mother of two who gave only her first name, plans to fly from Jakarta to Padang city in West Sumatra province at the end of the month, then travel by road to Medan city up north. After not visiting home for four years, she wants to pay respects at her father’s grave during Ramadan.

“We are still afraid with the virus spreading, but we are always strict with our health protocols when we travel. We believe that the aeroplane is safe for us,” she said.

There’s also confusion over seemingly conflicting regulations as governments promote other leisure activities to capitalise on Ramadan spending. Malaysia has allowed bazaars and restaurants to operate, while Indonesia is encouraging people to visit local tourist sites.

According to Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia, the government should be even more stringent. With the pandemic dragging on and inoculations under way, a combination of lockdown fatigue and “vaccine euphoria” is making people less compliant with mask-wearing and distancing rules during the Eid celebrations.

“We will see cases increasing after Ramadan,” Riono warned.

06:18

SCMP Explains: What’s in a Covid-19 vaccine?

SCMP Explains: What’s in a Covid-19 vaccine?

Australian city enters snap lockdown

Western Australia’s capital of Perth and the neighbouring Peel region will enter a snap three-day lockdown from midnight on Friday after two people tested positive for Covid-19, the first cases of community transmission in Australia in a week.

Australia has all but stamped out the virus thanks to mandatory hotel quarantine for returning residents and citizens and snap lockdowns to arrest the infection.

The first case related to a man in Melbourne who likely contracted the disease during his two-week quarantine stay in a Perth hotel.

The second was his close contact in Perth, Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said in a televised news conference, where he announced the lockdown.

“I know this is hard to take and I wish we didn’t need to do this. But we can’t take any chances with the virus,” McGowan said.

The lockdown will close down most public spaces including pubs, restaurants, places of worship, libraries, and cinemas. Several sporting events scheduled for Friday night will go ahead, however, with masks mandatory.

AstraZeneca urged to send 1 million vaccines to PNG

“We have very clear assurances [from Brussels] that AstraZeneca does not have to apply through the EU export transparency regime to send those one million doses to Papua New Guinea,” Minister Dan Tehan told reporters in London on Thursday, speaking during a trade mission to Europe.

“There is nothing that is preventing them from sending those one million doses, from Europe to PNG and the ball is clearly in AstraZeneca’s court.”

AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to requests for comment on when it would supply the doses to PNG, which officials worry is in danger of being overwhelmed by the virus outbreak.

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Australia has yet to receive 3.1 million vaccine doses that AstraZeneca agreed to supply after the shipments became entangled in EU export restrictions.

But Tehan said EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis assured him such restrictions did not apply to the PNG consignment, and AstraZeneca must move quickly to send the shipment.

PNG has detected more than 10,000 cases of Covid-19, but health officials say this likely vastly underestimates the scale of the outbreak as the Pacific country’s fragile health system is unable to conduct mass testing.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier this month said the EU refusal to allow the export of 3.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was a key reason for Canberra lagging behind its own vaccination timetable.

However, the EU said it had formally only blocked 250,000 doses destined for Australia. 

Hard-hit Phuket desperate to reopen

A year after one of Southeast Asia’s most popular fun-and-sun destinations became an eerily quiet shell of empty resorts, shops and nightclubs, residents of the Thai island of Phuket are hoping to save their economy with an inoculation programme.

For now, beach umbrellas rest rolled up on vacant hotel verandas, overlooking empty stretches of sand, while mannequins languish in dust-covered windows of shuttered shops.

“We are taking the opportunity to put our system to a test,” said vice governor of Phuket province, Piyapong Choowong, adding that more than 70 per cent of Phuket’s population of about 650,000 would be vaccinated by July 1, when foreign vaccinated visitors are allowed in without the long quarantines that have kept most tourists away.

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Residents and vendors say they badly need the business.

“The situation is very bad. All stores are closed. People are suffering,” said Uga, who sells coconuts and drinks by an empty beach.

Thailand lost about US$50 billion in tourism revenue last year – an 82 per cent plunge. Phuket, where about a quarter of foreign tourists spend time, was hit particularly hard. The government hopes at least 100,000 tourists will visit Phuket in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Thailand reported 2,070 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic started.

Four new deaths were also recorded, the health ministry said. The new cases took the total number of infections to 50,183, while the death toll stood at 121.

Reporting by Associated Press, Reuters, Bloomberg