Coronavirus latest: Singapore bans some travellers from UK, tightens restrictions for New South Wales

Singapore’s health ministry on Tuesday said it would be tightening border restrictions for travellers entering from the UK and Australia’s New South Wales. From Wednesday, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to the UK within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter into or transit through Singapore. This also applies to those who obtained prior entry approval. Singapore citizens and permanent residents who have been in the UK in the previous two weeks will have to serve a 14-day quarantine at dedicated facilities. “There have been recent reports of a potentially more contagious strain of the Covid-19 virus circulating in the UK … To reduce the risk of spread to Singapore, we are putting in place new border restrictions for travellers from UK for further precaution,” the ministry said. Covid-19: 3-week self-isolation ordered for aircrew in Hong Kong recently in UK The resurgence of cases in New South Wales has also resulted in Singapore tightening border control measures for travellers who have been in the Australian state. Short-term travellers holding an Air Travel Pass who have been in NSW in the previous 14 days will not be allowed to enter Singapore. Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders with a travel history to NSW in the last two weeks will be subject to a seven-day stay-home notice at their place of residence. All other travellers from the rest of Australia will be subject to a coronavirus test upon arrival, in lieu of a stay-home notice. Malaysia procures vaccine doses Malaysia has signed a deal to procure 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, and is in final talks with Chinese and Russian manufacturers to secure more, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday. The Southeast Asian country has already secured 12.8 million doses from its deal with Pfizer-BioNTech signed last month, as well as from its participation in the global Covax facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO). “This means that we have secured vaccine supplies to cover 40 per cent [of the population],” Muhyiddin said in a televised address. Coronavirus vaccines will save 2021? Not so fast, here’s what the experts think Malaysia expects to buy enough supplies to inoculate 26.5 million people, or more than 80 per cent of its people. The government is now in final negotiations with China-based manufacturers Sinovac and CanSino as well as Russia’s Gamaleya Institute to cover the remainder, Muhyiddin said. The procurement deals are expected to cost US$504 million (2 billion ringgit) in total, he said. To boost confidence in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, Muhyiddin said he would be among the first to receive a dose, followed by frontliners and high-risk groups such as senior citizens. The government expects to receive the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February, he added. Malaysia was the first country in Southeast Asia to strike a deal with the US drug maker. Under the Pfizer deal, it will receive 1 million doses in the first quarter of 2021 and 1.7 million, 5.8 million and 4.3 million doses in the subsequent quarters. Neighbouring Singapore was the first Asian nation to take delivery of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday when its first batch arrived from Belgium. South Korean tourism hotspots close South Korea on Tuesday moved to shut down all ski resorts and winter tourist spots in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus spreading as a third wave of the pandemic proves much tougher to contain in the densely populated region of the capital city. From December 24 to January 3, the government will close ski facilities and tourist attractions, popular during the year-end season, said Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, speaking during a televised briefing. Gatherings of more than four people will not be permitted, he said, while tighter antivirus curbs will be imposed on restaurants to tamp down infections. The announcement comes after Seoul and surrounding areas banned gatherings of more than four people over the Christmas and new year holidays with the country recording its highest daily death toll from the coronavirus on Monday. Coronavirus: Seoul limits gatherings, Singapore receives first vaccines South Korea reported 869 new coronavirus cases as of Monday midnight, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Tuesday, down from the daily record of 1,097 reported over the weekend. The rash of new cases has shaken a country that has for months been held up as a mitigation success story. The new cases bring the nation’s tally to 51,460 infections, with 722 deaths. “The message the government is urging the people is clear,” Chung said. “We sincerely ask you to cancel all travels and gatherings and stay home during Christmas and new year holidays.” The national government has so far resisted calls to impose Phase 3 in the country’s anti-Covid-19 plans, the toughest of all categorised social distancing rules that would essentially lock down Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Hundreds more cases in Thailand Thailand confirmed 427 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, with most cases linked to a seafood centre outbreak in a province near the capital Bangkok, the public health ministry said. The new cases include 397 migrant workers in the southwestern province of Samut Sakhon, where Thailand’s coronavirus worst outbreak yet was confirmed at the weekend. There were also 16 other local infections in several provinces which are linked to the same outbreak, plus 14 cases imported from abroad. Sydney outbreak numbers decline Sydney has recorded a two-day dip in coronavirus cases after Australian authorities imposed a snap lockdown and residents flocked to testing centres in record numbers, but officials have cautioned the outbreak is still “evolving”. A Covid-19 cluster on Sydney’s northern beaches has grown to 90 cases since emerging last week, sending the area’s picturesque seaside suburbs into a lockdown. Despite record testing, eight new coronavirus cases were confirmed Tuesday after 15 cases the previous day – raising hopes that the city’s five million residents may yet be able to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Long queues have snaked outside testing sites across Sydney, with more than 83,000 people tested on Monday and Tuesday in New South Wales, a state of 7.5 million people that includes the sprawling harbourside city. Sydney virus curbs widen as cluster grows; South Korea cases hit new high State Premier Gladys Berejiklian praised the “outstanding” public response but said the virus threatened to continue spreading because those infected visited gyms, pubs and restaurants across Sydney. “What remains our concern is that even though the case numbers are relatively low compared to what we’ve experienced in previous days, the number of venues that are impacted grows,” she said. Berejiklian said the two-day dip in case numbers appeared to show health strategies were paying off but cautioned that the situation was still “evolving” and case numbers could “creep back up”. Authorities have promised to review restrictions, including caps on home visitor numbers, on Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve. Additional reporting by Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse