Singapore’s cases surpass 30,000, with hundreds of migrant workers testing positive every day
Singapore reported 614 new cases of Covid-19 today, tipping the national total past the 30,000 mark. The vast majority of the Asian city-state’s 30,426 cases are migrant workers living in dormitories, where clusters began emerging last month and have raged on despite authorities’ efforts to...
India reports more than 6,000 new cases in biggest one-day jump
More than 6,000 people in India have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on Friday. The 6,088 new patients bring the national tally to 118,447 cases. This is India’s biggest one-day jump in cases so far. The death...
Japan lifts state of emergency in 3 prefectures
Japan on Thursday lifted the state of emergency in three prefectures: Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo. The state of emergency — enacted to curb the spread of coronavirus — remains in place for five hardest-hit regions, including Tokyo and Hokkaido. The government will convene on Monday to decide whether to lift the order...
South Korea reports 20 new Covid-19 cases amid huge nightclub cluster testing campaign
South Korea reported 20 new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, according to the country’s Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. This raises the national total to 11,142 cases and 264 deaths. Nightclub cluster: Authorities have been working for the past two weeks to respond to a new...
Chinese President Xi Jinping seen without mask at legislative session
Chinese President Xi Jinping did not wear a face mask as China’s National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, opened its third annual session today. Xi was seen leading attendees of the NPC in a minute’s silence for people who died from coronavirus. Premier Li Keqiang,...
China scraps annual economic growth target for first time
China will not set an economic growth goal for this year as it deals with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. It is the first time Beijing has not had a gross domestic product (GDP) target since 1990 when records began. The announcement was made...
Cyclone Amphan: Survivors return to face destruction left by storm
Millions of people across Bangladesh and eastern India are taking stock of the devastation left by Cyclone Amphan. A massive clean-up operation has begun after the storm left 84 dead and flattened homes, uprooted trees and left cities without power. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi...
NPC: China begins move to impose controversial Hong Kong security law
China’s ruling Communist Party has set in motion a controversial national security law for Hong Kong, a move seen as a major blow to the city’s freedoms. The law to ban “treason, secession, sedition and subversion” could bypass Hong Kong’s lawmakers. Critics say China is...
Indonesian president’s Eid ‘open house’ cancelled
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo will not open the presidential palace to the public during Eid, which falls on Sunday in the country, due to social distancing rules. The tradition, referred to as open house, sees the president meet the public for a brief period of...
Bangladesh produces first generic version of remdesivir
Bangladesh-based Beximco Pharmaceuticals has become the world’s first company to produce a generic version of the antiviral drug remdesivir, originally developed by US-based Gilead Sciences. Remdesivir was originally designed as an Ebola treatment. It works by attacking an enzyme that a virus needs in order...
Wuhan has conducted more than 3 million coronavirus tests since May 12, health officials say
Wuhan’s Municipal Health Commission says it conducted 887,321 coronavirus tests on May 20, up from 856,128 tests on May 19. The city, once the epicenter of the pandemic crisis, has now conducted 3,065,902 coronavirus tests since May 12, the commission said. Wuhan started conducting city-wide...
China claims Pompeo’s “lies have bankrupted his credibility” amid clash between Beijing and Washington
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lashed out at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo amid a growing war of words between Beijing and Washington. “[Pompeo] has played to perfection the part of an extremely irresponsible politician, but his numerous lies have bankrupted his credibility...
Thousands left homeless as Cyclone Amphan heaps misery on virus-hit communities
Thousands of people have been left homeless in the wake of Cyclone Amphan, which slammed into India’s eastern coast on Wednesday afternoon, as authorities race to provide relief efforts in communities already stricken by the coronavirus. Amphan, which was the most powerful cyclone ever recorded...
More than 200 coronavirus cases linked to South Korea nightclub cluster
In South Korea, 201 coronavirus cases have now been linked to a nightclub cluster in the capital Seoul, health officials said today. The cluster, which was identified on May 9, has been traced to the entertainment district of Itaewon. After cases began emerging, authorities used...
Amphan: Indian city of Kolkata devastated by cyclone
The eastern Indian city of Kolkata has been devastated by a powerful cyclone. Cyclone Amphan made landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people as it lashed coastal areas with ferocious wind and rain. Many of Kolkata’s 14 million people...
Mumbai: India hospital delivers 100 babies from Covid-19 mums
More than 100 healthy babies have been born to mothers infected with the novel coronavirus in one hospital in India’s western city of Mumbai. Three of the 115 babies born to infected mothers at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in the past month initially...
Anti-Asian hate crimes, biases escalate amid COVID-19
In California’s Alameda County, a Chinese American man was screamed at while mowing his lawn. The local prosecutor said the man was told to get out of America. In neighboring Santa Clara County, a Vietnamese couple was threatened while in a grocery store. Officials said...
The coronavirus is complicating cyclone evacuations in India and Bangladesh
The coronavirus pandemic is complicating cyclone evacuation efforts in India and Bangladesh, as relief teams grapple with how to get millions of people to safety while also protecting them against the risk of Covid-19. Cyclone Amphan, currently the equivalent of a strong Category 2 Atlantic...
India reports more than 5,600 new cases in biggest one-day jump
India recorded 5,611 new coronavirus cases today — its biggest one-day jump since the pandemic started, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This past weekend, India saw its infection numbers surge, with total cases increasing by 10,000 in just two days....
Nearly 200 cases in South Korea have been linked to the Itaewon nightclub cluster
In South Korea, 193 coronavirus cases have been linked to a Seoul nightclub cluster, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said today. The cluster, which was identified on May 9, is concentrated in the capital city’s entertainment district of Itaewon. The cases are believed to have...
It’s just past midnight in Washington and noon in Tokyo. Here’s the latest on the pandemic
If you’re just joining us, here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic. In the US: The numbers: The US has more than 1.5 million cases and is approaching 92,000 deaths. At least 17 states have recorded a clear upward trend of average new...
Japan’s case numbers dip as government considers whether to lift state of emergency
Japan recorded 31 new coronavirus cases and eight deaths on Tuesday, raising the national total to 16,925 infections and 784 deaths. Tuesday was the 10th consecutive day that fewer than 30 new cases were recorded in the country. Daily new cases have been steadily declining...
Heavy rains in India and Bangladesh as cyclone bears down
Heavy rains and winds are lashing parts of eastern India and Bangladesh as a super cyclone approaches. Both countries have evacuated millions of people in preparation for Cyclone Amphan, which is coming in from the Bay of Bengal. The first super cyclonic storm in that...
Amphan: India and Bangladesh evacuate millions ahead of super cyclone
India and Bangladesh are evacuating millions of people from coastal areas ahead of a super cyclone which is approaching from the Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Amphan is expected to make landfall in an area near the border of the two countries later on Wednesday. More...
Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square vigil in doubt after coronavirus restrictions extended
The Hong Kong government announced it would extend a ban on public gatherings — established as part of coronavirus distancing measures — an extra two weeks through June 4, the day Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. “For social...
Wuhan officials said they tested more than 1 million people in a week
The central Chinese City of Wuhan conducted more than 467,000 coronavirus tests on Monday, authorities said today. Wuhan started conducting city-wide coronavirus testing on its citizens last week after health officials detected several new locally transmitted cases despite a strict 76-day lockdown that was intended...
India and Bangladesh planning to evacuate over 2 million people as super cyclone nears
Bangladeshi officials are planning to evacuate some 2 million people along coastal areas as the country braces for Super Cyclone Amphan. In India, officials said up to 300,000 people in the coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha are in immediate danger from the storm...
Northeastern Chinese city tightens lockdown restrictions
The city of Shulan in northeastern China has tightened its lockdown measures after reporting a number of locally transmitted coronavirus cases over the past week. Under the new rules, only one person from each household will be allowed to leave their home once every two...
India coronavirus cases surpass 100,000
India’s Ministry of Health and Welfare has confirmed that more than 100,000 people have tested positive for novel coronavirus nationwide. The total number of confirmed cases stands at 101,139, including 3,163 deaths, according to the ministry. Some 2,404,267 tests for the virus have been carried out in the...
Amphan: India evacuates millions ahead of super cyclone
India has begun evacuating millions of people along its eastern coast ahead of a super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The storm is expected to make landfall on Wednesday and hit West Bengal and Orissa (Odisha) states. More than 20 relief teams have already...