Singapore had record low international arrivals in 2021, but saw signs of recovery after introducing a quarantine waiver system for vaccinated visitors and offering cash vouchers, its tourism authority said on Tuesday (Jan 25). Singapore had 330,000 international arrivals in 2021, the lowest since the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) started tracking the numbers in the 1970s,...
After two years of lull in tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic, the popular Indonesian holiday islands of Bintan and Batam are finalising plans to reopen their shores to leisure travellers from Singapore. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto on Monday (Jan 24) said the Indonesian government was now prepared to launch the travel bubble...
A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a woman amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, in Noida, India, Nov 19, 2020.Reuters India's election commission extended its ban on political rallies and roadshows in five states on Saturday (Jan 15) due to rising Covid-19 cases...
Many countries around the world, including Singapore, are taking steps towards living with Covid-19. But as recently as Jan 11, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned against treating the virus as endemic, especially since the Omicron situation has not yet stabilised. What explains this apparent difference in views? The main reason is that the world as a whole is not...
Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin had just announced that travellers who are fully vaccinated but has a history of being infected with Covid-19 within 11-60 days DO NOT need to undergo quarantine when they arrive in Malaysia. Source: Kosmo However, they will be required to do an RTK test in front of the health officers at the international arrival doors...
Australia on Thursday (Jan 13) reported its biggest pandemic caseload with a runaway Omicron outbreak driving up hospitalisation rates as the surge put severe strain on supply chains forcing authorities to ease quarantine rules for more workers. After successfully containing the virus earlier in the pandemic, Australia has reported nearly a million cases over the last two...
Malaysians should be more cautious of our surroundings and maintain our SOPs in an effort to curb the ever-evolving Covid-19 virus coupled with the omicron variant going around. However, it seem that our Covid-19 recovery rate is much better than we previously expected. Yesterday (9 January 2022), Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah shared Malaysia’s ranking on Nikkei’s Covid-19 Recovery Index and Global COVID-19...
People lining up for Covid-19 tests during a citywide mass testing in Tianjin on Jan 9, 2022.Reuters The Chinese city of Tianjin, with around 14 million people, has tightened exit controls and now requires residents to obtain approval from employers or community authorities before leaving town and a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours of departure. The...
A fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday (Jan 4), citing preliminary findings of an Israeli study. “A week into the fourth dose we know to a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” Bennett said at...
A health worker administers a Covid-19 test in a free public testing site at Farragut Square in Washington, US on Dec 23, 2021.Reuters The following is a summary of some recent studies on Covid-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Drugstore Covid-19...
