Malaysia’s prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, announced Friday the government will extend travel restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, to April 28.
The limits – known as the Movement Control Order – took effect last month to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country and were initially scheduled to end April 14.
But in a televised address, the prime minister said he was extending the restriction to April 28 on the advice of the Malaysian Health Ministry and other medical experts.
He also announced he has instructed police, the army, the Malaysian maritime enforcement agency, immigration department and all other related agencies to tighten security along the nation’s borders.
Parts of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, have been cordoned off by security personnel due to high numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases.As of Friday, the country reported 4,346 confirmed cases and 70 deaths from the coronavirus. However, it recorded more recoveries than new COVID-19 cases for three days in a row, with 222 patients discharged Friday, bringing the tally of released patients to 1,830 or 42.1 percent of the total.
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Category: East
East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
Singapore Battles Virus Hotspots in Migrant Workers’ Dorms
After managing to keep on top of the first wave of coronavirus outbreaks, Singapore is grappling with an alarming rise in infections among migrant workers housed in crowded dormitories.
Such cases now account for about a quarter of Singapore’s 1,910 infections. The government reported 287 new cases Thursday, its biggest daily jump. More than 200 were linked to the foreign workers’ dormitories.
The tiny city-state of less than 6 million people was seen as a model in its early, swift response to the virus. But it apparently overlooked the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers living in conditions where social distancing is impossible. Now more than 50,000 workers are quarantined and others are being moved to safer locations.
The outbreaks merit attention in a region where practically every country has large numbers of migrants working, commuting and living in crowded conditions.
On one recent night, masked foreign workers laden with luggage got off buses, each keeping a small distance from the others, to be registered and screened before moving into a Singapore army camp.
The 1,300 workers moving into segregated facilities in two army camps will be required to observe strict health measures, stagger their meal times and maintain social distancing. They are due to stay in the camp until May 4.
Posing beside single cots spaced several feet apart, several gave thumbs ups in a short video on the defense ministry’s Facebook page.
Others are to be moved into unoccupied housing estates, an exhibition center and other locations to help reduce crowding in their dormitories.
Foreigners account for over a third of Singapore’s workforce, and more than 200,000 are migrant workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other poorer Asian countries living in 43 registered dormitories across Singapore.
Most work in construction, shipping and maintenance jobs, helping to support Singapore’s trade-reliant economy.
Virus clusters have emerged in nine of the privately-run dormitories that house up to 20 men per room, with shared toilets, cooking and other facilities.
By failing to act sooner, Singapore allowed the illness to spread more widely than expected in communities that already are relatively vulnerable, experts said.
“This is a very major and urgent issue that requires active and urgent intervention,” Lawrence Wong, the national development minister, said in televised remarks.
This week, the city tightened precautions with a four-week “circuit breaker,” shutting down non-essential businesses and schools until May 4.
“Hindsight is 20/20. In general, Singapore could have implemented measures earlier that would have blunted the initial surge in imported cases in the second half of March,” said Hsu Li Yang, an associate professor and program leader for Infectious Diseases at the National University of Singapore.
“The important matter at hand is to swiftly disrupt the chains of transmission in the dormitories, as well as in the rest of Singapore,” Hsu said.
The more than 50,000 workers quarantined for two weeks in five dormitories that were declared “isolation areas” are being screened and tested. They are still paid wages and provided food and other essentials. The facilities are sanitized daily and they have been given health kits with face masks and hand sanitizers.
Labor advocates have questioned the strategy, saying confinement en mass in dormitories might put the workers at greater risk.
“When social distancing in dorm rooms with 12–20 men per room is effectively impossible, should one worker in a room be infected – and he could be asymptomatic — the repeated contact he has with his roommates because of confinement would heighten the risk to his mates. The infection rate in the dorm could increase dramatically,” the group Transient Workers Count Too, a charity group helping migrant workers, said in a statement.
It likened the quarantines to the conditions aboard cruise ships that were incubators for coronavirus infections.
The pace of testing, reportedly at less than 3,000 a day, cannot keep up with infections, and many thousands of workers live outside the 43 registered dormitories, noted the group’s vice president Alex Au.
“They may be able to move 5% or 10%, but our guess is that the densities in the dormitories are so high, you may need something something like a 50% reduction. Where do you place tens of thousands of workers? It’s a very, very big problem,” Au said.
The virus is highlighting the need for better living conditions for workers.
“The problem here is Singapore’s whole economic model, our prosperity, is really built on the assumption or expectation of cheap labor,” Au said. “This is going to show us that cheap is a temporary thing. There will be hidden costs that will erupt when you don’t expect it,” he added.
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COVID-19 Fears Prompt Detainees in Australia to Plead to Be Released from Immigration Detention
Detainees in Australian immigration centers are pleading to be released because of COVID-19 fears. They say it is impossible for them to self-isolate and protect themselves from the disease.Detainees at the Villawood immigration center in Sydney fear an outbreak of the new coronavirus inside the facility that houses more than 400 people would be impossible to control. They are pleading to be released, and some said they are so desperate they’ve gone on a hunger strike.“We are not going to break or wreck anything, but this is the only form of way that we can reach out is by striking like this to do not eat in order to get some form of attention,” one detainee said. “No eat, no drink. We are sick of being in the dark and being in the shadows. We are human beings, so we urge you, we are pleading with the Australian government to act now. The time is now before it gets here and it is too late.”In a letter to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, detainees insist they are living in a potential COVID-19 “death trap.”“We ask the community and the prime minister and the lawyers to help our family and help us before the disease comes inside the detention (center) and sweep everybody,” a second detainee said.So far there has been one confirmed case of the new coronavirus in Australia’s detention network.“This COVID-19 virus is taking you out there and it hits in here like it is already the rumors are, we are all gone, we’re all going to die,” a third said. “We just get buried with nothing. They might as well just come and shoot the lot of us now.”The government insists there are established plans for dealing with a potential coronavirus outbreak within Australia’s detention network. A spokesperson said detainees showing symptoms of COVID-19 would be quarantined and tested.There are about 1,440 people, including those from Iran, New Zealand and Sudan, being held in detention on the Australian mainland. Forty percent are asylum seekers, while around 600 are being held for visa breaches.The average length of time in detention is more than 500 days.
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American Coronavirus Lawsuits Seek Compensation from China
In less than a month, more than 5,000 Americans have joined a class-action lawsuit in Florida seeking reparations from the Chinese government for COVID-19 damages. The plaintiffs claim to have suffered huge losses due to Beijing’s negligence in containing the virus. Similar class-action lawsuits also were filed in Nevada and Texas.“Our lawsuit addresses those who have been physically injured from exposure to the virus … it also addresses the commercial activity China has engaged in around the “wet markets” trade,” Berman Law Group, which filed the Florida suit, told VOA. The law firm cited the ‘commercial activity’ and ‘personal injury’ exceptions under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [FSIA] as legal grounds for suing China.Chimene Keitner, professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, disagrees.“If you read any of the cases that have been decided under the statute [FSIA], it is extremely clear that personal injury, the conduct of a Chinese official needs to happen in the territory of the U.S. for that to apply. And there’s no allegation of commercial activity here,” Chimene noted.She added, “you can’t sue foreign states for their policy decisions.”International tribunalsThe Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people fell ill with a virus, sits closed in Wuhan, China, Jan. 21, 2020.A potential U.S. lawsuit against China for coronavirus damages could be worth $1.2 trillion, according to British conservative think tank, the Henry Jackson Society. In its new report, the Henry Jackson Society said China is potentially liable for the damages incurred due to its early mishandling of the disease. Specifically, intentionally withholding information from the World Health Organization was cited as a violation of the International Health Regulations. The think tank urged countries to sue China, laying out 10 different legal avenues to pursue, including the WHO, the International Court of Justice, Permanent Court of Arbitration, courts in Hong Kong, and the U.S.“Not simply using one but using a combination of the legal avenues may prove to be the most effective way forward,” said Andrew Foxall, director of research at the Henry Jackson Society and co-author of the report, in an interview with VOA. Countries, including the U.S., are unlikely to come forward, though, and make an official legal challenge against China over the coronavirus, according to David Fidler, visiting professor at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and former legal consultant to the WHO.“Epidemics could break out anywhere … So, there’s this shared interest not to throw what I call the normative boomerang,” said Fidler “Interestingly, countries have very strong common interest not to apply international law in a mechanical way in connection with infectious disease outbreaks.”Transboundary harmThe customary law of ‘International Responsibility’ for damages caused to another nation was first recognized in the Trail Smelter arbitration in the 1920s.A smelter in British Columbia, Canada, emitted toxic fumes and caused damage to the forests and crops in surrounding areas, and also across the Canada-U.S. border in Washington State. A tribunal was set up by Canada and the U.S. to resolve the dispute, and the Canadian government agreed to provide compensation.Legal scholars draw parallels to Chinese responsibility in the spread of the coronavirus.“If Canada had good environmental laws in place, the smelter wouldn’t be polluting and wouldn’t have done harm in the U.S. It looks related here. If China just maintained an adequate food safety regulatory regime, the harm wouldn’t have been spread,” said Russel Miller, professor of law at Washington and Lee University.William Starshak, a finance attorney in Chicago, points out that it will be in China’s interest to assume responsibility, as Canada did.“That actually will help China show itself to be a responsible citizen, but also to bring all of these claims, which are going to be diverse and have all sorts of geopolitical issues, come with a massive bill into one forum. Address them. It’s really the only way for China to move beyond this,” Starshak said.
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As Restrictions Ease in Wuhan, Health Official Vigilant Against Resurgence
As restrictions on travel and other movement by citizens are eased in the Chinese city of Wuhan — once, the epicenter of the world-wide coronavirus outbreak — health officials say they must remain vigilant against a resurgence of the virus. Officials Wednesday lifted most of the travel restrictions in the city, allowing regular traffic out of the city resume, along with train and air travel. Travelers were required to show they were approved as healthy using a phone app and having their temperature taken. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Wuhan Zhongnan Hospital deputy Chief Zhang Jungian says doctors are tracking patients they have seen — with or without symptoms — and ensuring they are going through the necessary quarantine. They are also stressing personal precautionary measures, such as face masks. The international community has raised questions regarding the veracity of information provided by the Chinese government regarding the outbreak there. But the lockdown and precautions taken in Wuhan and other areas to fight the spread of the virus have proven effective enough to be adopted by other nations.
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HOLD for FRI 6A – American Coronavirus Lawsuits Seek Compensation from China
In less than a month, more than 5,000 Americans have joined a class-action lawsuit in Florida seeking reparations from the Chinese government for COVID-19 damages. The plaintiffs claim to have suffered huge losses due to Beijing’s negligence in containing the virus. Similar class-action lawsuits also were filed in Nevada and Texas.“Our lawsuit addresses those who have been physically injured from exposure to the virus … it also addresses the commercial activity China has engaged in around the “wet markets” trade,” Berman Law Group, which filed the Florida suit, told VOA. The law firm cited the ‘commercial activity’ and ‘personal injury’ exceptions under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [FSIA] as legal grounds for suing China.Chimene Keitner, professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, disagrees.“If you read any of the cases that have been decided under the statute [FSIA], it is extremely clear that personal injury, the conduct of a Chinese official needs to happen in the territory of the U.S. for that to apply. And there’s no allegation of commercial activity here,” Chimene noted.She added, “you can’t sue foreign states for their policy decisions.”International tribunalsThe Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people fell ill with a virus, sits closed in Wuhan, China, Jan. 21, 2020.A potential U.S. lawsuit against China for coronavirus damages could be worth $1.2 trillion, according to British conservative think tank, the Henry Jackson Society. In its new report, the Henry Jackson Society said China is potentially liable for the damages incurred due to its early mishandling of the disease. Specifically, intentionally withholding information from the World Health Organization was cited as a violation of the International Health Regulations. The think tank urged countries to sue China, laying out 10 different legal avenues to pursue, including the WHO, the International Court of Justice, Permanent Court of Arbitration, courts in Hong Kong, and the U.S.“Not simply using one but using a combination of the legal avenues may prove to be the most effective way forward,” said Andrew Foxall, director of research at the Henry Jackson Society and co-author of the report, in an interview with VOA. Countries, including the U.S., are unlikely to come forward, though, and make an official legal challenge against China over the coronavirus, according to David Fidler, visiting professor at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and former legal consultant to the WHO.“Epidemics could break out anywhere … So, there’s this shared interest not to throw what I call the normative boomerang,” said Fidler “Interestingly, countries have very strong common interest not to apply international law in a mechanical way in connection with infectious disease outbreaks.”Transboundary harmThe customary law of ‘International Responsibility’ for damages caused to another nation was first recognized in the Trail Smelter arbitration in the 1920s.A smelter in British Columbia, Canada, emitted toxic fumes and caused damage to the forests and crops in surrounding areas, and also across the Canada-U.S. border in Washington State. A tribunal was set up by Canada and the U.S. to resolve the dispute, and the Canadian government agreed to provide compensation.Legal scholars draw parallels to Chinese responsibility in the spread of the coronavirus.“If Canada had good environmental laws in place, the smelter wouldn’t be polluting and wouldn’t have done harm in the U.S. It looks related here. If China just maintained an adequate food safety regulatory regime, the harm wouldn’t have been spread,” said Russel Miller, professor of law at Washington and Lee University.William Starshak, a finance attorney in Chicago, points out that it will be in China’s interest to assume responsibility, as Canada did.“That actually will help China show itself to be a responsible citizen, but also to bring all of these claims, which are going to be diverse and have all sorts of geopolitical issues, come with a massive bill into one forum. Address them. It’s really the only way for China to move beyond this,” Starshak said.
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Australian Police Seize Evidence from Country’s Biggest Source of Coronavirus Infections
Police in Australia have removed items from a cruise ship that arrived in Sydney last month carrying hundreds of passengers infected with the novel coronavirus. Investigators wearing protective gear from head to toe boarded the Ruby Princess late Wednesday night at Port Kembla and confiscated the ship’s “black box,” which holds a digital record of its movements similar to those installed on passenger jets. The authorities also questioned all of the ship’s 1,040 crew members who have remained on board since it docked on March 19. About 15 of the hundreds of infected passengers who disembarked the ship without undergoing health checks have died, making it the largest source of Australia’s 6,000 total COVID-19 infections and 51 deaths. About 200 crew members have shown symptoms of the virus, with 18 testing positive. The ship is expected to remain at Port Kembla for 10 days while the crew undergoes treatment. Health Minister Greg Hunt announced 96 new cases of coronavirus infections on Thursday, the lowest number of new infections in more than three weeks.
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Asian Markets Back on Upswing Thursday
Market shares were on the upswing in Asia on Thursday as investors once again expressed hope that the novel coronavirus pandemic was nearing its peak.Australia’s S&P/ASX index gained nearly 3.5 percent at the end of its trading session, with Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai and Mumbai also posting positive gains.Japan’s Nikkei index lost a fraction of 1 percent as the country faces an increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 infections.The rising numbers in Asia mirrored Wednesday’s closing numbers on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 all gaining 3.4 percent, while the Nasdaq finished 2.6 percent higher.Oil markets also improved Thursday, with U.S. crude oil gaining 3 percent to finish over $25 per barrel, while Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose nearly 2 percent, to settle at over $33 per barrel. Investors are hopeful that Thursday’s meeting between OPEC members and Russia will lead to a deal to curb production, which has created a glut of supplies as demand has plunged due to the pandemic.
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Taiwan Denies Accusations of Racism by Head of World Health Organization
Taiwan is pushing back against accusations by the director-general of the World Health Organization that racist attacks aimed at him came from the island.Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday accused Taiwan’s foreign ministry of being linked to a months-long campaign against him amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ethiopian-born microbiologist and researcher is the first African to head the United Nations global health agency.Taiwan’s foreign ministry expressed its “strong dissatisfaction” with Ghebreyesus’ accusations in a statement Thursday, calling them “groundless.””We are a mature and highly accomplished advanced democratic country, and have absolutely not instigated our people to personally attack the WHO’s Director General, and have absolutely not made any racist comments,” the statement said.Taiwan has been praised among the international community for its early measures to combat the pandemic, reporting just 379 cases and five deaths despite its close proximity to China. But the democratic self-ruled island has been barred from membership in the World Health Organization due to pressure from China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province.
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COVID Canceled His Tour, But Asian Rapper ‘MC Hot Dog’ Still Keeps Collecting Fans
You have to make Yao Chung-jen pose before his face cops the menacing scowl expected of rappers. In normal conversation he bounces between happy casual and sober rational. Yao’s stage name is MC Hot Dog. He’s Taiwanese and raps about everyday concerns in his hometown Taipei.He’s among his hometown’s few superstar rappers. He had sold more than 300,000 CDs as of 2018 and his YouTube videos handily grab 2 million to 20 million apiece. Among his 200 songs written since he took a shine to rap while in high school, a 2019 song called “Giwawa! Hater” (where Giwawa means “chihuaua”) plays to children frustrated by “senseless” acts such as being denied toys at a shopping mall, Yao said in an interview Tuesday. Song lyrics express “hate” for mom, dad and the world. The video fetched 2.1 million YouTube views in nine months. The rough edges of living in a big city feature in most of his music, often motivated by his own experiences, criticisms, reflections or stories he hears, the 42-year-old rap composer and singer said. “I think my music’s biggest unique point or its biggest difference from other people is that I sing about life, and I mean normal life, not a fantasy life, so I think the reason my music can always be something people like is they can understand it,” he said. MC Hot Dog started recording himself on a crude machine while attending a Catholic university in suburban Taipei. He’s been at it since 2001 and has seven albums of his own plus a part in three others. For youth, “whether they’re from the East or the West, they like direct language in lyrics, something they can understand,” said Yang Lian-fu, a Taiwanese publisher of local history books. “They like music that’s fast or that’s a bit more direct.” Yao’s rhythms and beats reflect a Western rap influence, typical of rappers in Taiwan who got into the groove relatively late. But unlike a lot of mainstream rap in the United States, MC Hot Dog’s lyrics omit language that’s self-aggrandizing, racially charged or offensive to women. Among his earlier hits, a tune called “I Love Taimei” turned a shadowy word into a hip one, Yao said. The term “Taimei,” though literally translated as “Taiwanese sister,” used to mean a slutty betel nut seller, he said, but the 2006 song gave it a new glow. “When that song came out it totally overturned that impression and flipped over the old definition of that word,” he said. “In the end, women were starting to think ‘I’m a Taiwanese sister.’” MC Hot Dog said he wrote the song simply because he likes Taiwanese women. Cause for anger? MC Hot Dog hardly mad dogs a visitor to his colorful office full of posters, boxes and suitcases on the 18th floor of a Taipei office tower. He considers questions quietly for two seconds before answering and never goes on for too long on any single point. He’s open to learning from criticism that he gets online, too. But the rapper calls himself a victim. The outbreak of COVID-19 this year forced the cancellation of shows in Taiwan, China, Europe and the United States. He had held out for two months on his U.S. tour but cancelled it on three days’ notice because the respiratory disease had “suddenly exploded” there on its way to becoming the world’s most severe. “I’m actually a very serious victim of this,” he said. “The losses are quite severe, but I’m OK with that because this is a worldwide problem and we’re all victims. This thing will eventually get better.” Pretenses aside, MC Hot Dog doesn’t chafe under fire from older Taiwanese who don’t like lyrics about hating mom and dad. His tunes thrive on “contrast” and “black humor,” he said. “DJs will say when these songs are on the radio ‘a lot of older people are calling into the station opposed to your song,’” Yao said. “But I don’t really care.” Rap is always strengthening its reach among Taiwanese youth anyway, said George Hou, a mass communications instructor at I-Shou University in Taiwan. There are even rapper contests, he said. Rap helps people make sense out of things that are otherwise hard to explain, he said. “When it binds together life and the things that Taiwanese people care about, it’s a good medium and a good weapon,” Hou said.
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Coronavirus Turns Vietnam from Recipient to Donor
China is not the only nation coming to the aid of others in the fight against COVID-19.In business attire and surgical masks, five European ambassadors stood on a stage in Hanoi on Tuesday and greeted Vietnamese officials who announced they were donating face masks to Europe. Besides donating 500,000 masks, Vietnam has sent medical aid to China, Cambodia and Laos in recent weeks.Hanoi is now in talks with the United States to supply it with protective equipment. Health workers walk through the grounds at a makeshift COVID-19 testing facility in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 31, 2020.Vietnam continues to try to control COVID-19 domestically, but the virus has also marked a moment for the communist nation to make overtures abroad. Upending tradition, Vietnam, which historically has been an aid recipient, is showing that it can also be a contributor. “Thanks to our Vietnamese friends for their support,” Petra Sigmund, director general for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign Office of Germany, said on Twitter. “We should stay united in solidarity and continue to join hands to fight against the coronavirus.”In another post, she shared a photo of herself in a colorful mask thanking Vietnam for its generosity in donating masks to Germany.As hospitals across the United States face big shortfalls in masks and medical equipment, the U.S. Agency for International Development is asking Vietnamese firms what supplies they can manufacture. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said it created an “air bridge” to quickly get medical supplies exported from Vietnam, in addition to nations such as Thailand, India and Honduras.The Vietnam Embassy in Washington said it created a direct channel of communication to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.“This is a very good opportunity for Vietnamese businesses to export personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies to European and American markets,” Nhan Dan, the official newspaper for the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, said in a web post. The newspaper called on domestic firms to manufacture supplies for export. The post noted that one opportunity is in California, which is asking for 500 million pairs of N95 breathing masks, 10 million goggles and 1 billion pairs of gloves.While Vietnam is a developing nation with an economy smaller than that of California, a combination of factors allows it to fill some holes created by the COVID-19 emergency. Vietnam responded early to the emergency, keeping its reported numbers of infections under 300 cases as of Wednesday, and giving it the relative stability to aid others. The single-party state ordered a national lockdown and mobilized resources and people, including health workers and volunteers. Last week, it asked firms to increase mask production to 5 million a day. Labourers wearing protective masks wait for a ferry on the way home after work, despite a government rule on social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak in Hai Duong province, Vietnam, April 7, 2020.Besides having a history of citizens wearing masks daily, Vietnam has an export-based economy dominated by manufacturing. Those factories give it a base to switch to making medical supplies in times of emergency.Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate is starting to make ventilators and thermometers for the first time, for instance. “Vingroup has an advantage of having both an automobile factory and an electronics factory, which enable us to manufacture both large and mechanical parts, as well as rare and smaller parts at the same time such as electronic boards,” said Le Thi Thu Thuy, vice chairwoman of Vingroup.One of her colleagues said the medical equipment will be sent overseas in the future, though the firm will start by selling it to the Ministry of Health at cost until domestic demand is met. Vingroup CEO Nguyen Viet Quang said the firm will start with 5,000 ventilators delivered to the Ministry starting next week and hopes to be producing tens of thousands of ventilators a month.He said the firm “can support other manufacturers around the world by processing equipment for them or providing part of the demand.”
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Japan’s State of Emergency Is No Lockdown. What’s in it?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other hard-hit Japanese prefectures to fortify the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. But this is no European or Wuhan-style lockdown. A look at what Japan’s state of emergency entails:Why Did Abe Declare A State Of Emergency?
A. Abe was facing heavy pressure to declare a state of emergency after the number of new cases in Tokyo began doubling every several days in late March. The city of 14 million had 1,339 cases as of Wednesday, up from about 600 a week earlier. Japan focused on dealing with clusters of infections and selective testing for the virus, a strategy that has failed to curb its spread. Experts found that one-third of Tokyo’s recent cases were linked to hostess clubs and other night entertainment districts where cluster tracing is difficult. Meanwhile, compliance with calls for working remotely and other social distancing has been weak. Is All Of Japan Affected?
A. The state of emergency announced Tuesday applies to only Tokyo, neighboring Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, Osaka, and Hyogo in the west and Fukuoka in the south. That is only seven of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Residents are requested to avoid nonessential trips within and outside the designated areas, but there are no restrictions on travel. Some Tokyo residents drew criticism for rushing to escape from Tokyo to the countryside. Does A State Of Emergency Cause A Tokyo Lockdown?
A. No, Abe and officials say Japan cannot legally enforce hard lockdowns. Public transportation is operating as normal. Most state of emergency measures are requests and instructions. Violators cannot be punished unless they fail to comply with orders related to storage or shipment of emergency relief goods and medical supplies. Why Is Japan Not Imposing A Hard Lockdown?
A. Japan’s history of repression under fascist governments before and during World War II has left the public wary of government overreach. The country’s postwar constitution lays out strict protections for civil liberties. Abe’s government was reluctant to risk severe economic repercussions from more severe measures. What Measures Are Taken In State Of Emergency?
A. The state of emergency allows prefectural leaders to ask residents to stay home. They can also request closures of schools, some child and senior care or community centers, and stores and businesses that are considered nonessential. They can advise organizers to cancel or postpone events. The governors can also request use of private property to build hospitals and other medical facilities. What Are Essential Activities?
A. Essential activities and facilities, including banks, grocery stores, postal services, pharmacies and utility companies, remain open. Some retail stores and entertainment venues such as movie theaters, concert halls and amusement parks can be asked to shut down. Public schools in Tokyo and some neighboring prefectures already are closed until at least early May.Can People Still Go Out?
A. Yes, residents can go out for purposes considered essential, including work, hospital visits and grocery shopping, according to a Cabinet Office statement. Residents in designated areas can still go out for a walk, a jog or other individual exercise. How Effective Is The Measure?
A. Abe on Wednesday repeated his request for the people to stay home and reduce interactions with others by up to 80%. But in Tokyo’s downtown Shibuya district, business was almost normal. Rush hour trains were still crowded and commuters were heading to work, though fewer people were seen in other areas of the capital. Akihito Aminaka, an education industry worker, said heeding Abe’s request was difficult because “to me, it sounds like they’re saying, ‘Please don’t go out, but we won’t help you.'”What’s The Potential Economic Impact?
A. Abe also announced an unprecedented 108 trillion yen ($1 trillion) stimulus package, equivalent to about a fifth of Japan’s annual GDP, to pay for coronavirus measures and protect businesses and jobs. It includes 300,000 yen ($2,750) cash handouts for some hard-hit households. A monthlong state of emergency in the Tokyo area could cause consumer spending to fall nearly 2.5 trillion yen ($23 billion), according to Nomura Research Institute.
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Masked Crowds Fill Streets, Trains after Wuhan Lockdown Ends
After more than two months indoors, Wuhan resident Tong Zhengkun was one of millions of people enjoying a renewed sense of freedom when the Chinese city’s 76-day coronavirus lockdown was lifted Wednesday. “I haven’t been outside for more than 70 days,” an emotional Tong said as he watched a celebratory light display from a bridge across the broad Yangtze River flowing through the city, where the coronavirus outbreak started late last year. “Being indoors for so long drove me crazy.” Later in the day, Wang Chun took to a downtown street to film a mask-free dance routine with a friend for posting on the internet “I’ve been inside for 2 1/2 months. I’m so happy Wuhan has defeated the virus,” Wang said after again donning her mask. Like so many others in the city, Wang was still waiting to hear about when she would get back to work. “That’s a very good question,” she said with a laugh. FILE – Residents wearing face masks walk at an old residential community blocked by barriers in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Apr. 5, 2020.Streets in the city of 11 million people were clogged with traffic and masked pedestrians visited the few snack shops that had reopened in the nightlife area. Long lines formed at the airport and train and bus stations as thousands streamed out of the city to return to their homes and jobs elsewhere. Yellow barriers that had blocked off some streets were gone, although the gates to residential compounds remained guarded. Tong said his apartment complex was shut down after residents were found to have contracted the coronavirus. Neighborhood workers delivered groceries to his door. Such measures won’t be entirely abandoned following the end of Wuhan’s closure, which began on Jan. 23 as the virus was raging through the city and overwhelming hospitals. Schools are still closed, temperatures are checked when people enter buildings and masks are strongly encouraged. City leaders say they want to simultaneously bring back social and commercial life while avoiding a second wave of infections. Travelers wearing face masks and goggles to protect against the spread of new coronavirus sit at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province, April 8, 2020.The ability to travel again is a huge relief, however, and around 65,000 people were expected to depart Wednesday by plane and train. Wuhan residents are now permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus. It didn’t take long for traffic to begin moving swiftly through the reopened bridges, tunnels and highway toll booths. Nearly 1,000 vehicles went through a busy highway toll booth at Wuhan’s border between midnight — when barricades were lifted — and 7 a.m., according to Yan Xiangsheng, a district police chief. According to airport official Lou Guowei, the first departing flight left Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at 7:25 a.m. for Sanya, a coastal city in Hainan province known for its beaches. “The crew will wear goggles, masks, and gloves throughout the flight,” chief flight attendant Guo Binxue was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency. “It will be very smooth because we have made much preparation for this flight.” Xiao Yonghong had found herself stuck in Wuhan after returning to her hometown on Jan. 17 to spend the Lunar New Year with her husband, son and parents-in-law. “We were too excited to fall asleep last night. I was looking forward to the lockdown lift very much. I set up an alert to remind myself. I was very happy,” said Xiao, who was waiting for her train outside Hankou station with her son and husband, all three of them wearing masks and gloves. At the airport, Chen Yating took personal protection a step further, wearing white coveralls, gloves, a mask and a baseball cap. She was waiting to catch a flight to the southern Chinese business hub of Guangzhou. “We are living in a good era,” Chen said. “It is not easy to have today’s achievement.” The end of Wuhan’s lockdown came one day after Japan declared a state of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures in an effort to stem the virus’s spread. India and much of Europe and the U.S. have also ordered stay-at-home orders, although not nearly to the same extreme as Wuhan. Restrictions in the city where most of China’s more than 82,000 virus cases and over 3,300 deaths from COVID-19 were reported have been gradually eased as cases declined. The government reported no new cases in the city on Wednesday. People wearing protective suits are seen in Biandanshan cemetery in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicenter of China’s coronavirus disease outbreak, April 1, 2020.While there are questions about the veracity of China’s count, the unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and Hubei province, where the city is located, have been successful enough that other countries adopted similar measures. “The people in Wuhan paid out a lot and bore a lot mentally and psychologically,” resident Zhang Xiang said. “Wuhan people are historically famous for their strong will.” During the lockdown, Wuhan residents could leave their homes only to buy food or attend to other tasks deemed absolutely necessary. Some were allowed to leave the city, but only if they had paperwork showing they were not a health risk and a letter attesting to where they were going and why. Even then, authorities could turn them back on a technicality such as missing a stamp, preventing thousands from returning to their jobs outside the city. Residents of other parts of Hubei were allowed to leave the province starting about three weeks ago, as long as they could provide a clean bill of health. People leaving the city still face numerous hurdles at their final destinations, such as 14-day quarantines and nucleic acid tests. Wuhan is a major center for heavy industry, particularly autos, and while major plants have restarted, the small and midsize businesses that employ the most people are still hurting from both a lack of workers and demand. Measures are being instituted to get them back on their feet, including 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in preferential loans, according to the city government. The exact source of the virus remains under investigation, though many of the first COVID-19 patients were linked to an outdoor food market in the city.
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China’s Virus Pandemic Epicenter Wuhan Ends 76-Day Lockdown
The lockdown that served as a model for countries battling the coronavirus around the world is set to end after 11 weeks: Chinese authorities are moving to allow residents of Wuhan to once again travel in and out of the sprawling city where the pandemic began.
Just after midnight Wednesday, the city’s 11 million residents will be permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus.
Restrictions in the city where most of China’s more than 82,000 virus cases and over 3,300 deaths were reported have been gradually relaxed in recent weeks as the number of new cases steadily declined. The latest government figures reported Tuesday listed no new cases.
While there are questions about the veracity of China’s count, the unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and its surrounding province of Hubei have been successful enough that countries around the world adopted similar measures.
During the 76-day lockdown, Wuhan residents had been allowed out of their homes only to buy food or attend to other tasks deemed absolutely necessary. Some were allowed to leave the city, but only if they had paperwork showing they were not a health risk and a letter attesting to where they were going and why. Even then, authorities could turn them back on a technicality such as missing a stamp, preventing thousands from returning to their jobs outside the city.
Residents of other parts of Hubei were allowed to leave the province starting about three weeks ago, as long as they could provide a clean bill of health.
Prevention measures such as wearing masks, temperature checks and limiting access to residential communities will remain in place in Wuhan, which is the capital of Hubei.
In an editorial, the ruling Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily warned against celebrating too soon.
“This day that people have long been looking forward to and it is right to be excited. However, this day does not mark the final victory,” the paper said. “At this moment, we still need to remind ourselves that as Wuhan is unblocked, we can be pleased, but we must not relax.”
In anticipation of the lockdown’s lifting, SWAT teams and staff in white hazmat suits patrolled outside the city’s Hankou railway station, while guards attended a security briefing under the marble arches of its entrance.
Tickets for trains out of Wuhan to cities across China already were advertised on electronic billboards, with the first train leaving for Beijing at 6:25 a.m. A line designated for passengers headed to the capital already was roped off, while loudspeakers blared announcements about pandemic control measures, such as keeping safe distances and wearing masks.
Wuhan is a major center for heavy industry, particularly autos, and while many major plants have restarted production, the small and medium-sized businesses that provide the most employment are still hurting from both a lack of workers and demand. Measures are being instituted to get them back on their feet, including 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in preferential loans, according to the city government.
China blocked people from leaving or entering Wuhan starting Jan. 23 in a surprise middle-of-the-night announcement and expanded the lockdown to most of the province in succeeding days. Train service and flights were canceled and checkpoints were set up on roads into the central province.
The drastic steps came as the coronavirus began spreading to the rest of China and overseas during the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when many Chinese travel.
The exact source of the virus remains under investigation, though it is thought to be linked to an outdoor food market in the city.
In preparation for the end of the lockdown, Party Secretary Wang Zhonglin, the city’s highest-ranking official, inspected the city’s airport and train stations Monday to ensure they were ready. The city must “enforce prevention while opening up, maintain safety and orderliness and the assurance of stability,” Wang said.
Mission one: to make sure the epidemic doesn’t resurge, he said.
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Philippine Health Workers Battle Coronavirus, Harassment
When Philippine health workers end their daily hospital shifts, they trade the risks of COVID-19 for the risks that they could have bleach thrown in their faces or be chased from public areas. Many workers report they are being evicted from homes, refused rides on buses, and kicked out of restaurants as their fellow citizens worry about coming into contact with them and contracting the ailment caused by the coronavirus.Critics say the disregard goes all the way to the top, with President Rodrigo Duterte saying these health professionals are “lucky” to die for the nation, even as he condemns the discrimination.The Department of Health has said it would investigate the treatment of health workers. And the capital city of Manila has approved an ordinance outlawing discrimination against workers and COVID-19 patients. The recently approved ordinance calls for a fine of nearly $100 and six months in prison.“We are receiving reports of our health care workers around the country being attacked physically, including being thrown bleach and splashed with chlorine,” the department said in a statement. “Additionally, there are reports of health care workers being refused access to basic services such as public transport and laundry, blocked and fined at checkpoints and evicted from their homes.”In February, the Philippines became the first nation to report a death from COVID-19 outside of China, where it first emerged. Since then, the virus has spread to infect 3,764 people in the Southeast Asian nation, leading to nearly 180 deaths at last report and threatening to overwhelm the health care system.FILE – Hospital workers wearing protective masks prepare to sleep on pews at a funeral chapel that serves as a temporarily shelter for them amid the coronavirus spread, in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines, April 1, 2020.As in the Philippines, health workers have been infected or killed while fighting the virus in nations from France to Vietnam to Pakistan. In the United States, they complain of being dismissed for protesting their hospitals’ hygiene policies; in China, one of the earlier deaths was of a doctor who tried to warn of the coming emergency.The Philippines faces a lack of gloves, surgical masks and coveralls which the government is moving to source now for workers. Local health care workers have tried to improvise, such as by making facial coverings for themselves.“Nothing will happen for us if we always wait for supplies or donations from abroad,” Senator Imee Marcos said.Marcos called on the Department of Health, along with the Department of Trade and Industry, to expedite the approval process for businesses that have made proposals to supply personal protective equipment, or PPE.On Monday, Duterte approved an order that gives health workers an extra 25% in pay, including for part-time and casually employed workers.He also warned citizens last week not to harass health care workers and said police would intervene if they witnessed such discrimination. “These acts cannot be tolerated,” the Department of Health said. It also sought to assure the public that it should not worry about becoming infected from workers, saying, “As medical professionals, our health care workers are taking extra precautions to ensure infection prevention and control.”
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New Zealand PM Declares Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, ‘Essential Workers’
New Zealand’s Prime Minister has announced the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are “essential workers,” allowing them to do their jobs despite national lockdown rules due to the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at a news briefing in Wellington, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday that while the two mythical characters would be free to make their rounds, she cautioned they will be extremely busy and might not make it to every household. She encouraged families to help all children by drawing an Easter egg putting it in the window for other children to “find” while out on their daily exercises. New Zealand has already embraced an international trend of putting teddy bears in the window for children to spot as they go for walks. Ardern suggested families put their Easter egg drawings next to the bears. The south Pacific nation remains in lockdown as part of an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, closing most businesses and limiting outside activities to daily exercise and performing essential duties.
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Taiwan Tells Agencies Not to Use Zoom on Security Grounds
Taiwan’s cabinet has told government agencies to stop using Zoom Video Communications Inc’s conferencing app, the latest blow to the company as it battles criticism of its booming platform over privacy and security.Zoom’s daily users ballooned to more than 200 million in March, as coronavirus-induced shutdowns forced employees to work from home and schools switched to the company’s free app for conducting and coordinating online classes.However, the company is facing a backlash from users worried about the lack of end-to-end encryption of meeting sessions and “zoombombing,” where uninvited guests crash into meetings.If government agencies must hold video conferencing, they “should not use products with security concerns, like Zoom,” Taiwan’s cabinet said in a statement on Tuesday. It did not elaborate on what the security concerns were.The island’s education ministry later said it was banning the use of Zoom in schools.Zoom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Taiwan would be the first government formally advising against use of Zoom, although some U.S. schools districts are looking at putting limits on its use after an FBI warning last month.Zoom Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan last week apologized a-message-to-our-users to users, saying the company had fallen short of the community’s privacy and security expectations, and was taking steps to fix the issues.Zoom competes with Microsoft’s Teams, Cisco’s Webex and Google’s Hangouts.Taiwan’s cabinet said domestically-made conferencing apps were preferred, but if needed products from Google and Microsoft could also be considered.Zoom’s shares dipped 1% in premarket trading on the Nasdaq. They have lost nearly a third of their market value since touching record highs late March.
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How to Hold an Election in a Pandemic, South Korean Style
South Korea has been widely praised as a global model for how to contain the coronavirus. Now, it is trying to show the world how to vote during the pandemic. The country is holding a legislative election April 15.Dressed in his official blue campaign jacket, South Korean lawmaker Lee Hae-sik is sweeping the sidewalk and picking up trash along with several volunteers.
He says his party told him to hold a social distancing-approved campaign. So here he is, cleaning the street and disinfecting public surfaces. He says these are his main campaign activities now.
South Korea is moving ahead with its legislative election, even during a time of social distancing.
Gone are the noisy street rallies that are a hallmark of South Korean elections. Instead, the two-week campaign is more subdued, with candidates focusing much of their efforts online.
Voting will look different too. At polling stations, face masks, plastic gloves, and temperature checks will be required. Anyone showing symptoms will vote at a separate booth. Many coronavirus patients will be voting by mail.
Some problems couldn’t be fixed. Because of lockdowns overseas, only about half of Korean voters living in foreign countries will be able to vote.
But there was never any serious consideration of delaying the election, says candidate Shin Beom-chul. He says the conditions may not be very ideal, but they’re the same for everyone. So he thinks the vote should proceed.
The vote is a midterm test for President Moon Jae-in. Moon’s approval ratings have gone up as his government is seen as having taken measures to successfully contains the virus. But analyst Jeong Han-wool says Moon isn’t in safe yet territory yet, especially because of South Korea’s fragile economy.
But so far, the outbreak has not forced South Korea’s economy to shut down, as in other countries.
And now its democracy is also finding a way to move forward, even during a pandemic.
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Australian Court Dismisses Cardinal’s Sex Abuse Convictions
Australia’s highest court has dismissed the convictions of the most senior Catholic found guilty of child sex abuse. High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel announced the decision of the seven judges on Tuesday in the appeal of Cardinal George Pell. The decision means he will be released from Barwon Prison outside Melbourne after serving 13 months of a six-year sentence. Pope Francis’ former finance minister was convicted by a Victoria state jury in 2018 of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in a back room of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in December 1996 while he was archbishop of Australia’s second-largest city. Pell was also convicted of indecently assaulting one of the boys by painfully squeezing his genitals after a Mass in early 1997. Pell had been ordered to serve three years and eight months behind bars before he became eligible for parole. The High Court found that the Victorian Court of Appeal was incorrect in its 2-1 majority decision in August to uphold the jury verdicts. Pell was regarded as the Vatican’s third-highest ranking official when he voluntarily returned to Melbourne in July 2017 determined to clear his name of dozens of decades-old child abuse allegations. All the charges were dropped by prosecutors or dismissed by courts in preliminary hearings over the years except the cathedral allegations. Pell was tried on the charges twice in 2018, the first County Court trial ending in a jury deadlock. Pell did not testify at either trial or at the subsequent appeals. But the juries saw his emphatic denials in a police interview that was video recorded in a Rome airport hotel conference room in October 2016. “The allegations involve vile and disgusting conduct contrary to everything I hold dear and contrary to the explicit teachings of the church which I have spent my life representing,” Pell read from a prepared statement. Australian Cardinal George Pell leaves at the end of a meeting with the victims of sex abuse, at the Quirinale hotel in Rome, Italy, March 3, 2016.He also pointed out that he had established a world-first compensation scheme for victims of clergy, the Melbourne Response, months before the crimes were alleged to have occurred. As police detailed the abuse allegations, Pell responded: “Absolutely disgraceful rubbish. It’s completely false. Madness.” Pell was largely convicted on the testimony of one of the choirboys, now in his 30s with a young family. He first went to police in 2015 after the second victim died of a heroin overdose at the age of 31. Neither can be identified under state law. Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd told the High Court last month that the surviving choirboy’s detailed knowledge of the layout of the priests’ sacristy supported his accusation that the boys were molested there. Pell’s lawyers argued that Pell would have been standing on the cathedral steps chatting with churchgoers after Mass when his crimes were alleged to have occurred, was always with other clerics when dressed in his archbishop’s robes, could not have performed the sexual acts alleged while wearing the cumbersome garments and could not have abused the boys in the busy priests’ sacristy without being detected. Much of the two-day hearing focused on whether the jury should have had a reasonable doubt about Pell’s guilt and whether he could have time to molest the boys in five or six minutes immediately after a Mass. The appeals court found in a 2-1 majority in August that Pell had had enough time to abuse the boys and that the unanimous guilty verdicts were sound. Judd said the “two big points” raised by Pell’s lawyers against the prosecution case were evidence that Pell had been chatting with members of the congregation on the steps of the cathedral after the Masses when the abuses could have occurred and that he only had windows of five or six minutes to commit the abuses undetected. Pell’s lawyer Bret Walker told the High Court that all that the prosecution had to do at his trial and appeals court hearing was to prove that Pell being left alone while robed or not talking with congregants after Mass was “possible” to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. “That … is a grotesque version of the reversal of onus of proof, if all the Crown has to do is to prove the possibility of something,” Walker said. Judd argued that the charges were proved beyond reasonable doubt. “The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant’s (Pell’s) guilt with respect to each of the offenses for which he was convicted,” the court said in a statement.
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Wuhan Residents Mourn and Breathe Sigh of Relief as Lockdown Ends
Residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus, are breathing a sigh of relief as a mandatory lockdown is over and some of the other restrictions have been gradually lifted. They also are mourning those who lost their lives to the illness. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.
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China Claims Zero Infections in Its Military
While militaries around the world are seeing their soldiers fall victim to the coronavirus, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing army, claims it remains virus-free.”China Confirms No Cases of Coronavirus Infection in Military,” said a headline in an official military publication on March 3. There has been no public update on military infections since.In addition to its 2 million-strong active-duty military troops, the country also has an 800,000-strong armed police force. During the height of the crisis, tens of thousands of soldiers, medics and support personnel were deployed into some of the most infected areas of China, including Wuhan, to fight on the front lines.But the disease has never made it to PLA barracks, according to China’s official data and reports.When asked why there were no cases of infection, Chen Jingyuan, health division director of the Logistic Support Department under the Central Military Commission, said in a press conference last month it was because the Chinese military’s strengthened prevention measures have been completely successful.”We have strengthened personnel training on disease response measures, imposed restrictions on unnecessary personnel movements, and canceled unnecessary gatherings,” Chen said. He said the outbreak has actually “improved the combat readiness of the Chinese military, instead.”Mounting skepticismAs known coronavirus cases topped over 1 million worldwide, many countries’ armed forces have reported infections. In the United States, roughly a month since the first service member tested positive for coronavirus in South Korea, the U.S. military reportedly has about 1,000 confirmed cases. Elsewhere, countries including France, Great Britain, Japan and South Korea are also seeing a steady rise in infection in their armed forces.In some countries, top generals were not spared from the coronavirus. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr., chief of staff of the Philippines armed forces, and Jaroslaw Mika, general commander of Poland’s armed forces, both have tested positive.FILE – General Jaroslaw Mika marches before U.S. soldiers during the welcome ceremony at the Polish military base in Zagan, Poland, Jan. 12, 2017.”We are seeing all over the world that militaries are being impacted just like the rest of societies,” said Zack Cooper, a former U.S. official working on China-related issues at the White House and the Department of Defense. “So, I would expect that to be the case in China, as well.”Cheng Chi-wen, editor-in-chief of Asia-Pacific Defense, a leading Asia defense magazine published in Taiwan, noted that there are several PLA units based in and around Wuhan, including airborne troops, a reserve anti-aircraft artillery battery and the central depot of the Joint Logistic Support Force.In such an army town, “Tens of thousands of the soldiers and their family members were interacting with local residents all the time,” Cheng said in a telephone interview.Speaking about the PLA’s virus-free claim, Timothy Heath, a senior international and defense researcher for the policy think tank RAND Corporation, told VOA in an email that “no one would expect that, and nobody would believe it.”He said the claim is especially dubious because the PLA has been making a serious effort to fight the coronavirus.Are military infections counted?Since Jan. 21, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) has been releasing its daily national account of coronavirus cases. The commission says the statistics in their reports are reported to them by each one of China’s provincial governments.In other countries, infections among soldiers are usually tallied under the local government count where the soldiers are living. However, under China’s current political structure, provincial governments have no jurisdiction over PLA units that reside in their areas.Soldiers work at a nursing station in the intensive care section of a military field hospital at the CenturyLink Field Event Center in Seattle, Washington, April 5, 2020.”The PLA medical personnel and units that detect infectious diseases report them to the military chain-of-command, not civilian,” said Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and a former U.S. Defense Department official responsible for managing bilateral relations with China.”The PLA is not subject to oversight by local authorities in these circumstances, even though PLA units often have close relationships with local governments where they operate,” he said in an email to VOA.Military experts interviewed by VOA in the United States and in Taiwan for this report pointed out that NHC’s reports never said there was any data received from the military. The experts believe the figures do not include military infections.Transparency vs. national securityEvery government struggles to balance transparent communications with national security concerns during major crises.The U.S. military recently decided to stop providing some of the more detailed data about coronavirus infections among their personnel, citing concerns that the information might be used by adversaries as the virus spreads.Cooper, now a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said that it is understandable that the U.S. and China are sensitive about infection numbers. He said keeping information about infections in the PLA concealed “is in Beijing’s interest, just as protecting similar information in the U.S. military is in Washington’s interest.”On the other hand, analysts say although some of the more mission-specific information will be withheld to prevent compromising operational security, the Pentagon will keep providing broader data about infections in the armed forces. They say accurate counts of infection and death rates from the virus have worldwide public health implications.FILE – Captain Brett Crozier addresses the crew as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in San Diego, California, March 1, 2020.Last week, the commander of a U.S. aircraft carrier was relieved of command after a letter he wrote to senior military officials pleading for help with an onboard outbreak leaked to the press. Capt. Brett Crozier was accused of failing to follow the U.S. Navy’s chain of command and for exhibiting “poor judgment.”A slew of videos showing hundreds of sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt cheering Crozier were posted on social media, becoming a national news story in the U.S.Retired Taiwanese Lt. Gen. Wu Sz-hua said in every country, politics will inevitably be involved in military decisions, and they all have different political considerations regarding the release of information about the epidemic.”It is expected that China takes extra precaution measures to ensure such data is classified,” said Wu, who was deputy commander of the Taiwanese army under former Nationalist Party President Ma Ying-jeou.”It is a safe bet that infection rates within the PLA are a state secret,” said Thompson, the former Pentagon official.
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Officials Hopeful Australia Is Flattening COVID-19 Curve
Health officials say there is more evidence that Australia’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak are working. While they are hopeful Australia can avoid the kind of devastation the coronavirus has caused in countries like Italy and the United States, they caution there is no room for complacency. There are more than 5,600 confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia. Thirty-four mostly elderly people have died.Health officials are cautiously hopeful that Australia is “flattening the curve” of COVID-19 infections. The rate of new cases fell to three per cent over the weekend.Almost 300,000 coronavirus tests have been carried out. Strict social distancing measures are also in place. Australians are not allowed to leave their homes without good reason or gather in groups of more than two, although households are exempt. Fines are being issued by the police for those who flout the regulations.Cafes, bars, cinemas and many beaches have been closed in an attempt to slow the spread of the highly infectious disease. Australia has closed its international borders, and some states, including Western Australia and Tasmania, have shut themselves off from the rest of the country. Community transmission of COVID-19 remains the authorities’ biggest concern. A man walks at a desert train station amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sydney, Australia, April 6, 2020.But Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy believes the overall signs are good.“Many of you are watching the situation thats happening in New York for example and other parts of the world with a lot of fear. We have been very keen to bring in the measures that we brought in in recent weeks to prevent that happening, and we are increasingly confident that if people continue to adhere to what we have been asking them to do, we can prevent a situation like we have seen in many other countries of the world,” he said.Australian police are also launching a criminal investigation into whether the operator of a cruise liner downplayed potential Covid-19 cases before thousands of passengers disembarked in Sydney last month.The Ruby Princess is responsible for more than a tenth of Australia’s confirmed coronavirus cases. At least 11 passengers have died. The vessel is moored south of Sydney. Almost 200 crew members who remain onboard have Covid-19 symptoms.The ship’s owner, Carnival Australia, said it would cooperate with the police inquiry.Five other cruise liners were forced to leave and head home by Australian authorities at the weekend.
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Rural-to-Urban Transition May Explain Viral Outbreaks: Vietnam Study
Vietnam has a possible lesson for the world as the global community copes with the COVID-19 emergency — monitor the places where odds of an outbreak are highest. Research indicates these are not the most urban or the most rural areas, but rather those that are in transition. Scholars from the East-West Center in Hawaii based this assessment on a review of Vietnam’s response to an avian flu outbreak in 2003. In researching that outbreak, the scholars found that infection rates were highest in areas that were in the process of urbanization, and thus had a mix of conditions, such as different rates of toilet access and diverse bird populations near national highways.Thus, governments may have higher odds of detecting a viral outbreak early and efficiently if they monitor such urbanizing areas, say James Spencer, Sumeet Saksena and Jefferson Fox, all senior Fellows at the Center, which is a nonprofit organization for research and education.“On a practical level, information on the link between urban development and disease outbreaks can help government agencies identify which locations are most likely to experience an outbreak of avian influenza so that prevention efforts can be less costly, more targeted, and more effective,” the Fellows wrote in a joint analysis April 1 for the Center.They added, “The concepts and methodology that were developed for this study could easily be adapted to many other disease threats, ranging from SARS, Ebola, and dengue fever to the current pandemic of COVID-19.”The authors were referring to a study, first done in 2017, which identified regions of Vietnam that were at risk of infection because as they urbanized, they had uneven levels of sanitation and a high chance of interaction between humans and animals.Those factors are relevant for the coronavirus in 2020 because some scientists believe that today’s disease originated in a transmission from animals to humans in China, which borders Vietnam and shares its experience of an uneven transition to urbanization. Bill Gates’ warning Philanthropist Bill Gates also discussed viruses and the rural-urban contrast in a TED talk that went viral for its seeming prescience. In 2015, he examined an Ebola emergency that killed 10,000 people, mostly in rural areas in West Africa.“It didn’t get into many urban areas, and that was just luck,” he said. “If it had gotten into a lot more urban areas the case numbers would have been much larger. So next time we might not be so lucky.”Expanding on the point made by Gates about Ebola, the East-West Center Fellows explained how Vietnam’s move from rural to urban development affected its avian flu cases, and what that could mean as the world fights the coronavirus.A hen tends to her chicks outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.The 2017 study, conducted with Vietnamese colleagues Nong Huu Duong and Chinh Tran, noted that as cities grow in developing countries, the demand for eggs and chicken increases.“Much of this demand is being met by large farms in the peri-urban areas surrounding cities,” the study said. “In Vietnam and other countries of Southeast Asia, numerous intensive chicken farms have sprung up in these areas.”These “peri-urban” areas transitioning from rural to city life have a variety of birds, a location near highways to help with transporting goods, and sanitation inequality among those who have toilets that flush and those who don’t.“This uneven process can be characterized as a period of confusion and social and environmental instability,” the study said. “One important result is a heightened risk of infectious disease in both humans and domestic animals.”Farmers raise chickens outside cities to serve urban customers; if those farmers contract avian flu, the disease could be transported into the nearby city, where the denser population would help it spread even faster. That could have been the case with COVID-19 as well.The scholars recommend that governmental authorities target their monitoring in these peri-urban areas, so they can see early signs of an outbreak and respond, such as by culling chickens. And then if authorities agree that “discrepancies in sanitation” cause outbreaks, they “might reduce disease risk by increasing efforts to standardize community infrastructure,” Spencer and his colleagues said.“For example, they might prioritize the introduction of flush toilets more widely in communities where access to modern sanitation is currently mixed,” they said.Millions of chickens were slaughtered in Vietnam and elsewhere to stop the avian flu from spreading.
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Growing Calls for China to Release Rights Lawyer from Compulsory Quarantine
One day after his release from prison, Chinese rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang told friends that he is being watched by state agents — fueling calls at home and abroad for China to stop using the pandemic as an excuse to extend his incarceration. The European Union said, in a press statement, that it expects Wang’s release to be “unconditional, with particular regard to his freedom of movement and to establish residence, including the possibility to reunite with his family in Beijing” — a stance endorsed by many international rights groups. “His rights under China’s legislation and international commitments were not respected during trial and detention. Reports about Mr. Wang being subject to serious mistreatment and torture must be thoroughly investigated,” the EU statement added. An illusion Amnesty International (AI) China researcher Doriane Lau called Wang’s freedom an “illusion” until the Chinese government lifts all restrictions. After Wang completed his four-and-a-half-year detention, “the politically motivated campaign against him is only likely to enter a new phase. Despite his release, he will be subject to heavy surveillance and unable to return to [Beijing],” Lau warned in a statement. “They are taking advantage of the COVID virus situation and using that as a very convenient excuse to basically detain him further or control him further,” another AI analyst William Nee told VOA. Nee said that Wang’s case is emblematic of China’s flawed rule of law as it has been riddled with inconsistencies and illegalities even according to China’s own criminal procedures. “The Chinese authorities should stop any form of harassment,” the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said in an earlier joint statement signed by ten other organizations to call for the international society’s attention on Wang’s condition. Set him free “Beijing’s insistence on prosecuting Wang… reinforces a dangerous mindset: that stability trumps free speech, and a ‘harmonious society’, human rights,” Sarah Brooks, Asia Advocate at International Service for Human Rights, also said in the statement. Wang, a lawyer who had defended political activists, victims of land seizures and members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, is being placed under a 14-day quarantine in his hometown Jinan, China’s eastern Shandong province 400 km south of Beijing, where his family of three live. During a phone conversation, Wang told peer lawyer Li Heping that state agents in the corridor outside his apartment in Jinan are keeping an eye on him and, before his release, he’d been tested five times for coronavirus, Li’s wife Wang Qiaoling tweeted early Monday. Unreasonable quarantine That prompted Li’s wife to say that lawyer Wang “should immediately go home [to his family in Beijing]. No need to wait for another 14 days. The 14-day [quarantine] is unreasonable.” In earlier tweets, she complained that police in Jinan were keeping lawyer Wang away from everyone including delivery boys and his closest kin. His cousin and those who tried to deliver food and flowers to his apartment were once taken into the police station for questioning, she tweeted. Li Wenzu, wife to lawyer Wang, reiterated the family’s wishes to be reunited in Beijing. “It’s an illegal act for the government to limit individual personal freedom. This is against our free will. What I and Quanzhang want is to be reunited. We want a family reunion in Beijing,” she told VOA. She said their son, who turns seven, keeps asking why his father hasn’t returned on Sunday. Calling Chinese officials “liars” and “hooligans,” Li said she is worried that Wang will be permanently put under house arrest in Jinan even if the 14-day quarantine comes to an end. On Twitter, support for Wang’s genuine freedom has been growing. Growing support online One user wrote “Wang’s fate in 14 days will be decided by how [strongly] the international society reacts… China may adjust [its control of him] if it is under heavy pressure. If not, it will continue its evil act.” Shao Jiang, a former Tiananmen movement student protester, who now lives in London, tweeted that Wang “must be granted freedom, not ‘non-release release’.” Non-release release is a term coined by leading New York University School of Law China expert Jerome Cohen to describe China’s practice of putting rights activists under de facto house arrest upon their release from detention. According to Safeguard Defenders, China’s practice of ‘non-release release’ may last up to a year or more commonly for a few months. “It is an exercise in controlling news, diplomatic and general media attention in high profile cases, and especially to block reports on victim testimonies of torture or other illegal behavior,” the rights group said in a press statement last week. A Chinese lawyer who befriends Wang told VOA anonymously that he remains worried about Wang’s mental and physical condition after years of incarceration. He added he’s pessimistic that China will cave into international pressure or ease its control of Wang. The rise of China has empowered itself to build up its own narrative, growing more and more reluctant to take criticism from other governments, despite that “what China has done [to Wang] is illegal and against human nature,” he said. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social microblogging platform, no mention of Wang’s release can be found as state censorship is common.
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