Vaccinating Asia: How does world's largest continent immunise 4.5 billion people in shortest time possible?

‘It is a critical issue as the world rushes to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus. How does the largest continent in the world immunise 4.5 billion people in the shortest time possible? The Straits Times bureaus find out in this special report.’

• Grappling with myriad challenges on path towards Covid-19 immunity
• Midwives and soldiers in Indonesia mobilised to support country's inoculation drive
• Millions of undocumented migrants in Malaysia keen on Covid-19 jab but wary of arrest
• Filipinos in search of coveted 'Covid-19 passport'
• India's greatest challenge lies in vaccinating rural villages
• Quality and quantity of Covid-19 vaccines in China hamper inoculation drive
• Hong Kong's Covid-19 vaccination drive zips ahead despite woes
• South Korean govt draws flak for not mandating Covid-19 vaccine holiday after roll-out delay
• South Korean man, Singaporean fiancee inoculated ahead of May wedding
• Japan's chequered past with vaccines raises fresh fears
• No rush for Covid-19 jab in Taiwan, given fears over side effects
• Religious, community groups, experts clear doubts about Covid-19 jabs in Singapore
• Church webinar in S'pore convinces senior to take Covid-19 jab
• Tapping TikTok videos and social media influencers to spread information on vaccines in Singapore
• MCI officers create skits, dances on TikTok to debunk Covid-19 myths
• Foodcourt chat to allay fears about Covid-19 shots among Singaporeans

Read here (Straits Times, Apr 2, 2021) 

Hong Kong’s contact tracers put up with lies and abuse, while trying to locate people close to Covid-19 patients

‘It takes persistent probing, detective work for 200 volunteers to track down patients’ contacts. Anxious to avoid quarantine, some clam up and refuse to admit they were with Covid-19 patients.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Feb 21, 2021)

Covid lockdowns in Hong Kong: Ambush-style action clearly works

‘The ambush-style lockdowns in Hong Kong are being criticised as a violation of human rights. However, such sudden lockdowns may remain the most efficient way for the city to control the spread of Covid-19 (“Hong Kong’s latest lockdowns uncover four Covid-19 cases in three buildings”, February 8).

‘To know the reason for this, we must know the answer to two questions: why a lockdown, and why ambush-style... (1) Lockdowns are the most effective way known for tracing or eliminating the virus infection chain... (2) As for the ambush style adopted, the lack of notice is the only way to ensure that no one can escape the lockdown...’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Feb 9, 2021)

Seismic change: How Covid-19 altered world events in 2020

‘The year 2020 has been like no other. The coronavirus infected more than 67 million people, impacted 80% of jobs, and placed billions in lockdown... Here are just four political issues, from four continents, which were altered by the pandemic:

1. The US election
2. Hong Kong's protests
3. Ethiopia's Tigray crisis
4. Israel's political crisis’

Read here (BBC, Dec 27, 2020)

Singapore, Hong Kong agree to set up air travel bubble for leisure travel without need for quarantine: Ong Ye Kung

‘Singapore has announced its first two-way air travel bubble with Hong Kong, paving the way for leisure and other forms of travel between both places. This means that people will be able to travel between the two locations without the need to be quarantine, subject to conditions, including testing negative for Covid-19. Details are still being worked out, but people could be travelling between both places in several weeks.’

Read here (Straits Times, Oct 16, 2020)

Countries should meet these five criteria before easing lockdowns, study says. Many aren't even close

‘Countries should not ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions until they meet five criteria -- and many nations are not even close, according to a new analysis published in The Lancet medical journal. The research, published Thursday, said that the prerequisites for easing Covid-19 measures are: knowledge of infection status, community engagement, adequate public health capacity, adequate health system capacity and border controls.

‘The authors looked at nine high-income countries and territories that have started to relax restrictions -- Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Norway, Spain and the UK. They found that many governments had failed to meet the criteria necessary to avoid new waves of infection, as seen in Spain, Germany and the UK.’

Read here (CNN, Sept 25, 2020)

First Covid-19 reinfection documented in Hong Kong, researchers say

‘Researchers in Hong Kong on Monday reported what appears to be the first confirmed case of Covid-19 reinfection, a 33-year-old man who was first infected by SARS-CoV-2 in late March and then, four and a half months later, seemingly contracted the virus again while traveling in Europe.

‘The case raises questions about the durability of immune protection from the coronavirus. But it was also met with caution by other scientists, who questioned the extent to which the case pointed to broader concerns about reinfection...

‘During his second infection, the man did not have any symptoms. Some patients go through their course of Covid-19 without showing symptoms, but researchers have also hypothesized that secondary cases of the coronavirus will generally be milder than the first.’

Read here (STAT News, August 24, 2020)

One-two punch of protests, coronavirus playing havoc with mental health in Hong Kong, study finds

‘Some three-quarters of Hongkongers are harbouring negative thoughts in the aftermath of last year’s social unrest and amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with young people suffering significantly more from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, a new study has found.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 6, 2020)

Electronic wristband to ensure stay-home notice: Quarantine monitoring devices being used by others worldwide

Besides Singapore, many other places in the world have also turned to electronic monitoring devices to help them control the spread of the coronavirus. Here are some places that do so: Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia (Sarawak), Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Liechtenstein.

Read here (Straits Times, August 4, 2020)

Hong Kong’s edge over Singapore shows early social distancing works

‘The diverging outcomes in Hong Kong and Singapore -- which are still handling the virus far better than many other advanced economies -- show how early and strict social distancing measures may be more beneficial to the economy over the long term. In Europe and the US, politicians are now mulling lifting lockdowns to revive their economies, even as health experts caution against relaxing too soon.’

Read here (Bloomberg, April 10, 2020)

Lockdown can’t last forever. Here’s how to lift it

‘Trying to see our way through the pandemic with this “suppress and lift” approach is much like driving a car on a long and tortuous road. One needs to hit the brakes and release them, again and again, to keep moving forward without crashing, all with an eye toward safely reaching one’s final destination.’

Opinion by Gabriel Leung, infectious disease epidemiologist and dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong.

Read here (New York Times, April 6, 2020)