Asian News

March 31, 2020 6:01 PM

YANGON (REUTERS, XINHUA) -Myanmar reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday (March 31), a 69-year-old man who also had cancer and died in a hospital in the commercial capital of Yangon, a government spokesman said.

Rahul Patil works at a call centre, in a crowded room surrounded by hundreds of his colleagues – a dangerous risk as India’s confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have increased to more than 1,200.Just days ago, an information technology executive in a building not too far from Patil’s had tested positive. By then, the government was making repeated appeals to businesses to let employees work from home, but Patil – whose name has been changed to protect his identity – and his colleagues were…

March 31, 2020 5:57 PM

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday (March 31) approved new regulations that came into immediate effect with the goal of curbing the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, including a 405.1 trillion rupiah (S$35.22 billion) increase in the state budget to cater to exigent expenses such as spending on health equipment.

March 31, 2020 5:53 PM

SYDNEY (AFP) - Hard-drinking Australians were told Tuesday (March 31) to limit themselves to buying just 12 bottles of wine and two cases of beer a day as a coronavirus lockdown saw panic buying of alcohol.

Coronavirus lockdown advice issued by Malaysia that urges women to dress up at home and avoid nagging their husbands sparked a sexism row on Tuesday, with critics saying it promotes gender stereotypes.In a series of online posters with the hashtag #WomenPreventCOVID19, Malaysia’s women’s affairs ministry issued advice on how to avoid domestic conflicts during the partial lockdown, which began on March 18.One of the campaign posters depicted a man sitting on a sofa, and asked women to refrain…

March 31, 2020 5:06 PM

MANILA (REUTERS) - The Philippines' Health Ministry on Tuesday (March 31) recorded its single largest daily increase in coronavirus deaths and infections.

March 31, 2020 5:06 PM

BEIJING (REUTERS) - China will start reporting on asymptomatic coronavirus cases that have been confirmed in the mainland from Wednesday (April 1), an official from the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

March 31, 2020 4:56 PM

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian scientists are using the largest particle accelerator in the southern hemisphere to help fast-track the hunt for a vaccine against Covid-19, researchers said Tuesday (March 31).

March 31, 2020 4:32 PM

TAIPEI(REUTERS) - Taiwan will introduce social distancing measures to help control the coronavirus, but will not yet punish people who fail to comply, the Health Minister said on Tuesday (March 31).

March 31, 2020 4:27 PM

NEW DELHI (REUTERS) - Indian authorities sealed off the headquarters of a Muslim missionary group on Tuesday (March 31) and ordered an investigation into accusations that it held religious meetings that officials fear may have infected dozens of people with the coronavirus.

As Malaysia headed into its third week of a lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, the country’s roads remained largely empty, traversed mainly by essential services staff such as police officers, paramedics – and delivery people.Those working for the likes of Lalamove, GoGet, Foodpanda and Grab remain busy, ferrying meals from restaurants to consumers or even between households as Malaysians struggle to remain socially connected but physically distanced in a country where eating, cooking,…

March 31, 2020 3:58 PM

NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) - India's coronavirus response has unwittingly done away with the endless paperwork that has come to define bureaucracy, as electronic files replace physical records and technology makes in-person meetings redundant.

March 31, 2020 3:55 PM

TOKYO (REUTERS) - Patrons of Tokyo restaurants and bars will be able to light up indoors for the last time on Tuesday (March 31) as one of the world's most cigarette-friendly cities starts enforcing anti-smoking laws from April 1.

A coronavirus-free tropical island nestled in the northern Pacific may seem the perfect place to ride out a pandemic – but residents on Palau say life right now is far from idyllic.The microstate of 18,000 people is among a dwindling number of places on Earth that still report zero cases of Covid-19 as figures mount daily elsewhere.The disparate group also includes Samoa, Turkmenistan, North Korea and bases on the frozen continent of Antarctica.A dot in the ocean hundreds of kilometres from its…

The group tackling a massive blaze in Sichuan were trapped by a sudden change in wind direction.

March 31, 2020 3:29 PM

NATUNA ISLANDS, INDONESIA (NYTIMES) - Mr Dedi knows where the fish run strongest in Indonesian waters off the Natuna islands. The Chinese know, too.

March 31, 2020 3:28 PM

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian astrophysicist bored by coronavirus isolation saw his attempted invention to stop people catching the disease go hilariously wrong when he landed in hospital with magnets stuck up his nose.

March 31, 2020 3:24 PM

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin has drawn criticism from her former party colleague for turning up in a full personal protective equipment (PPE) suit during a sanitation exercise aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

March 31, 2020 3:23 PM

PYONGYANG (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - North Korea could have manipulated images of its latest rocket launches, a German rocket expert recently said on a US radio show.

March 31, 2020 3:11 PM

TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) - Japan's ruling party proposed the country's biggest-ever stimulus package worth 60 trillion yen (S$789 billion) as the spreading coronavirus locks the economy in a recession.