Singapore on Sunday confirmed six patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus are in intensive care, increased from four on Saturday. The health ministry also confirmed three new cases of the virus, taking the city state’s overall number of infections to 43.The health ministry said the three new cases did not travel to China recently so contract tracing was underway to establish potential links to known clusters of local transmission in Singapore.“Of the 22 locally transmitted cases,…
Singapore Airshow organisers vow to ‘carry on’ despite coronavirus concerns
The Singapore Airshow will go ahead despite reduced ticket sales and cancellations of defence officials and international exhibitors after the spread of the deadly coronavirus virus forced airline suspensions and upended global travel.Organisers on Sunday said more than 70 exhibitors have pulled out – about 8 per cent of the companies that were signed up.Public attendance will also be pared back, said Leck Chet Lam, managing director of Experia Events, adding there would be less than half last…
Singapore PM says coronavirus spread could worsen but ‘there is no need to panic’
Singapore’s leader on Saturday said he expected to see more new cases of deadly coronavirus infections with no known contact to previous patients but authorities were well-prepared to tackle the crisis and would reconsider their mitigation strategy if the numbers kept growing.In a recorded message broadcast on television and YouTube, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sought to reassure anxious Singaporeans who had flooded supermarkets to stock up on essential items after authorities raised the…
Thai soldier Jakrapanth Thomma kills at least 20 in Korat shooting spree
Dozens of terrified shoppers were evacuated from a Thai shopping centre early on Sunday as armed police said they had “taken control” of the ground floor of the complex from a gunman who killed at least 20 people.But authorities did not give any firm details on the whereabouts of the attacker – a junior army officer named Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma.There were fears the shooter could try to hide among the panicked crowds.Police from the Crime Supression Division urged fleeing shoppers to …
Coronavirus: Singapore urges calm after panic buying hits supermarkets amid outbreak fears
The government has come out to assure Singaporeans that there is an ample supply of essentials, after the raising of the risk assessment level of the novel coronavirus situation in the city state sparked panic buying at supermarkets.Photos of long queues and empty shelves at supermarkets have been circulating on social media after Singapore raised the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) alert level to Orange on Friday afternoon. This refers to a situation in which a virus is…
Coronavirus, South China Sea politics fuel anti-Chinese sentiment in the Philippines
Manila universities ordering Chinese students to quarantine themselves; crematoriums refusing to accept the body of a Chinese coronavirus victim; taxi drivers reportedly turning down passengers who look Chinese. Although there are just three confirmed cases in the Philippines, coronavirus fears are already threatening to become what some scholars call an “epidemic of racism”.“When there are gaps in scientific knowledge – cliché and prejudice fill the void,” noted a blog post by scholars…
Coronavirus: World Health Organisation plays down dip in daily infection rate, saying it might not mean outbreak has peaked
The World Health Organisation on Thursday cautioned against reading too much into data showing a dip in daily new coronavirus infections in China after the figure had surged for weeks.Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, said it was “too early to make predictions” on whether the outbreak had peaked, based on just one data point.“We are still in the middle of an intense outbreak and we need to be very careful about making any predictions,” Ryan told a daily briefing…
Coronavirus: Singapore confirms two new infections; one has no known link to previous cases
Singapore on Thursday confirmed two new cases of the coronavirus, including a 41-year-old man with no recent travel history to mainland China and no identifiable link to the city state’s other infections.The new cases brought Singapore’s total infections to 30 and the health ministry also confirmed the condition of two patients previously diagnosed had deteriorated.One patient is now in critical condition in intensive care and another requires additional oxygen support, the ministry said…
What would a North Korean nuclear submarine mean for US and its allies?
Kim Jong-un has spent much of his time as North Korea’s leader developing bigger and more advanced nuclear weapons. This year, he may try to make them harder to find by putting them under the sea.Recent North Korean reports touting a new submarine and its test of a ballistic missile designed to be launched from one have fuelled speculation that a sub may be the “new strategic weapon” Kim promised to unveil this year. While such a vessel would probably be noisy and unable to stray far from the…
Coronavirus: Singapore confirms four new cases, including 6-month-old boy, taking tally to 28
Singapore on Wednesday confirmed four new cases of the novel coronavirus, including a six-month-old boy who is the youngest person in the city state to have been diagnosed with the disease.In a statement, Singapore’s ministry of health confirmed three of the new cases were linked to a “cluster of local transmission” identified on Tuesday.The four new cases bring Singapore’s total number of cases to 28. All four of the people diagnosed were being held in isolation.Two of the new cases are father…