S. Korea to temporarily halt visa waivers for countries with entry bans on Koreans

SEOUL, April 8 (NNN-YONHAP) — South Korea will temporarily suspend visa-free entry and visa waiver programs with countries imposing entry bans on Koreans, as it seeks to stem imported cases of the new coronavirus, the prime minister said Wednesday. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also said the government will expand entry…

More than 7,000 advisories issued as Singapore tightens rules on safe distancing

SINGAPORE, April 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) –  More than 7,000 written advisories were issued to members of the public who breached the elevated safe distancing measures, mostly in hawker centres and markets, according to Singapore’s Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. The elevated safe distancing measures, dubbed as a circuit breaker,…

Covid-19: S’pore reports 106 new cases

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, April 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has confirmed an additional 106 cases of COVID-19 infection, bringing total cases in the republic to 1,481. Among the linked cases, 39 cases were linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories and 23 were linked to non-dormitory clusters,…

S. Korea considering wristbands to prevent self-isolators going outside

SEOUL, April 7 (NNN-YONHAP) — South Korea is considering using electric wristbands to prevent people in self-isolation from going outside, an official said Tuesday, amid growing concerns over people breaching the rules and spreading the coronavirus. “A majority of people are following self-isolation (rules), but there have been some cases…

Putrajaya, Rembau and Jasin are now Covid-19 red zones

KUALA LUMPUR,  April 7 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Putrajaya, Rembau and Jasin are now categorised as COVID-19 red zones, bringing the tally of the infection’s hotspots to 21 locations across the nation to date. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Health (MOH)’s Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) on Twitter today, Putrajaya…

Continue staying home, help frontliners fight Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR,  April 7 (NNN-BERNAMA) —  The announcement by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday of the additional RM10-billion economic stimulus package for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) or Prihatin Package for SMEs was surely welcome news Aimed at easing the financial burden of the sectors, the measures will ensure that…

British PM in intensive care after Covid-19 symptoms worsen

LONDON, April 7 (NNN-XINHUA) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken to intensive care on Monday night after his COVID-19 symptoms worsened, Downing Street said. Johnson has asked British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise for him, Xinhua news agency reported a Downing Street spokesman as saying. The prime…

Covid-19: M’sian PM calls on people to stay resilient and continue MCO compliance

PUTRAJAYA, April 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today called on the people to remain resilient and continue obeying the Movement Control Order (MCO) to help the country fight COVID-19. He said the challenges posed by the coronavirus were not something that could not be handled by…

Japan expected to effect a state of emergency on April 8

TOKYO, April 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — With death toll in Japan from the COVID-10 pandemic surpassing 100 Sunday, Japan is most likely expected to declare a state of emergency, the first of its kind in the country, on Tuesday. Japan’s news agency Kyodo, quoted a government official saying on Monday that…

FDI policy reforms needed to ride out Covid-19 impact, says don

By S. Joan Santani KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia must undertake bold structural and sectoral reforms in its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in order to ride out the COVID-19 shock, says an academic.  Professor Sufian Jusoh of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s International Trade and Investment Institute for Malaysian…