Coronavirus: A testing time for Asia

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Updated 27 February 2020
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Coronavirus: A testing time for Asia

  • Governments in Malaysia and Singapore have released awareness pamphlets to fight fake news both on and offline
  • Sri Lanka remains free from coronavirus after its only infected patient from China recovers

Health fears are rising across the Middle East after Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Iraq reported their first cases of the coronavirus earlier this week following a nationwide outbreak in Iran.

The Iranian government has vowed to be transparent after being accused of covering up the deadliest outbreak of the virus (known as Covid-19) outside China, confirming 139 cases of the infection and a death toll of 19 people to date.

Infected Iranian travelers across the Middle East have also been identified as carriers of the coronavirus, leading many Arab states to close their borders to Iran in addition to China and South Korea.

Several European countries have announced their first cases, including Austria, Croatia and Switzerland, after an outbreak in Italy was announced earlier this week.

Overall, Covid-19, which originated in Wuhan, China, has infected more than 81,000 people worldwide in two months, claiming the lives of close to 3,000 people.

The following are stories from around Asia as efforts to contain the coronavirus threat continue.




Kuwaiti women wear protective masks as they sit in a restaurant inside the Mubarakiya Market in Kuwait City. (AFP)

Malaysia, Singapore

Malaysia and Singapore are fighting fake news both on and offline, following the global spread of Covid-19 which first emerged in China in January this year, officials told Arab News.

Singapore NGO worker Mathilda Ho told Arab News that a wave of panic and anxiety swept through Singapore after authorities there raised the disease outbreak response system condition (DORSCON) level to orange two weeks ago.

“A number of citizen journalists and the media reported stockpiling to the point where aisles of rice or staples and even paper products such as toilet paper were wiped off the shelves at supermarkets,” said Ho.

Xenophobia against Asians and the Chinese community has also increased online, including in Malaysia and Singapore, prompting both governments to invoke laws against such activities. Since last month, Malaysian authorities have arrested 12 people and Singapore has detained four individuals for alleged hate-related incidents.

In a bid to deflate the online “infodemic,” the two neighbors have also released pamphlets in four languages — English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil — while the Singapore government launched a catchy rap song asking people to maintain hygiene.

Dr. Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told Arab News that both governments were trying to keep their populations calm but he criticized authorities for not acting sooner.

“In Singapore, earlier public messaging about what to do at different alert levels might have helped reduce some of the panic buying, hoarding, and profiteering that came after the (Prime Minister) Lee (Hsien Loong) administration raised health alert levels,” said Chong.

FASTFACTS

  • Global cases of the coronavirus have passed 81,000.
  • The proportion of infected people who die is about 3 percent.
  • There have been 2,770 deaths worldwide, with the majority in mainland China.
  • The main signs of infection are fever, a cough and breathing difficulties.
  • Origins of virus linked to illegally traded wildlife at Wuhan’s seafood market.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has banned all travel to and from Iran after officials reported on Sunday that three Afghans who had recently returned from the country could be suspected carriers of the coronavirus.

Blood samples of the three elderly men, now in hospital in the western city of Herat, which borders Iran, have been sent to Kabul for tests, Waheed Mayar, head of foreign relations for the Ministry of Public Health told Arab News.

“We do not know how long it will take to find out if they really have coronavirus or not. They were tested at the border and it could be the virus, or any other illness related to cold weather,” he said.

The development adds to the vulnerabilities faced by Afghanistan with its close proximity to China. Mayar said the government had set up health checks at all airports and border crossings with Iran and Pakistan, China’s other neighbor and main trading partner.

“These teams are screening those people who have had exit visas from China dating to one month back. All their details are recorded, and our teams are in contact with them to check if there is any possible sign of the virus on them,” he added.

Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Gran Hewad, told Arab News that 62 Afghan students were currently residing in Wuhan, where the outbreak originated.

Khan Jan Alokozai, deputy head of Afghanistan’s Chambers of Commerce said Kabul had halted all of its imports from China.

“It (coronavirus) has also affected business, imports and exports to and from China for us too. Each week, we used to dispatch by air 40 tons of goods, pine nuts mostly, but that has come to a halt,” he added.

India

Fearing a radical slowdown in the country’s manufacturing sectors, India’s premier industry body the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the government to set up a special taskforce to deal with the impact of coronavirus on imports from China.

Two of the CII’s key demands include the “lowering of import duty” in addition to the provision of “easy credit to manufacturers.”

The CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community, with more than 9,000 members representing both small- and large-scale industries and 300,000 indirect members from the country.

“The coronavirus pandemic in China is impacting critical inputs for the Indian industry which may adversely impact small businesses. A joint government-industry taskforce can institute risk mitigation measures on an immediate basis,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, the CII’s director general.

“There is no call for panic as Indian industry is resilient and can enhance domestic production to meet temporary shortfalls,” he added.

According to the CII, China supplies 43 percent of India’s imports of the top 20 goods, including mobile handsets ($7.2 billion imported from China), computers ($3 billion), integrated circuits and other inputs ($7.5 billion), fertilizers ($1.5 billion), API ($1.4 billion), and antibiotics ($1.1 billion).

India also imports goods worth more than $1 billion from China, particularly in the pharma, fertilizers, medical devices, inorganic chemicals, and textile sectors.

The CII stated in its report that “the pharma sector is particularly vulnerable as it (the outbreak) is a matter of health of Indian citizens.”

Sudarshan Jain, of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association, told Arab News: “We need to be cautious and not create unnecessary speculation in the market.”

Another sector hit has been the toy industry. With only 30 percent of inventory left, there has been a spike in toy prices in recent days.

“The next supply is expected in April end or May first week. Until then, we will have to live with a supply constraint,” said Vipin Nijhawan of the Toy Association of India.

 

Sri Lanka

As one of Asia’s top tourist destinations still free from coronavirus, officials in Sri Lanka said that they had embarked on a chain of preventive measures to maintain the island nation’s status quo and keep the disease off its shores.

Dr. Sudath Samaraweera, chief epidemiologist at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Colombo, told Arab News that from the time the World Health Organization had declared a global emergency, Sri Lankan authorities had been on red alert and were vigilantly monitoring all airports and entry points.

To facilitate the process, the government had put a stop on all online and on-arrival visas for tourists from China which topped the list of countries with maximum visitors to Sri Lanka.

Samaraweera added that more than 1,600 people, including students, who had arrived from China and affected areas there, were being monitored by public health inspectors throughout the country, and 14 specialized hospitals had been equipped to deal with cases. So far, the hospitals had treated 178 suspected cases, including 47 foreigners.

“There was one Chinese woman from Wuhan, who showed symptoms and she was discharged from the hospital after testing negative. A group of 33 students who were brought into the country by a special charter from Wuhan, are completing nine days of quarantine in an army hospital and will be discharged soon once all is clear,” he added. 

 

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has taken all necessary measures to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country, with no confirmed cases reported so far, health officials told Arab News on Sunday.

In addition to beefing up screening procedures at airports, land ports, and seaports, a round-the-clock hotline service and special quarantine units have been installed at all government-run hospitals.

According to officials from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), 291,126 visitors had been screened for the virus between Jan. 21 and Feb. 23, and 17,253 had been tested in the past 24 hours.

“We are on alert for passengers from Singapore, as it has the second-highest local transmission rate after China,” Dr. A. S. M. Alamgir, chief of the IEDCR coronavirus control room, told Arab News.

Nearly 175 Bangladeshi students are stranded in Yichang, the second-largest city in China’s Hubei province after its capital Wuhan.

“To date, we haven’t seen any symptoms of the virus and are expecting to release them soon,” said Alamgir, who is also the principal scientific officer at the IEDCR.

 

Philippines

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte is keen to promote domestic tourism to help the economy.

While there have been three confirmed cases of Covid-19 infections in the Philippines, none of them were Filipino, with all three reported to be Chinese visitors.

Through a video message posted by the Philippine authorities, Duterte encouraged the public to boost local tourism by visiting the “many wonderful places that the Philippines has to offer.”

“To my fellow Filipinos, I encourage you to travel with me around the Philippines. I assure you that everything is safe in our country,” Duterte said.

“Come with me and be my travel companion. I’ll be traveling around the Philippines,” he added.

He noted that airlines, hotels and resorts had “agreed to lower their rates so that we can be a viable market.”

The Philippines has imposed travel restrictions on visitors from China and its administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) said the coronavirus threat has resulted in foregone revenue for the month of February estimated around 14.8 billion pesos.

 * Input from: Nor Arlene Tan, Kuala Lumpur; Sayed Salahuddin, Kabul; Sanjay Kumar, New Delhi; Mohammed Rasooldeen, Colombo; Shehab Sumon, Dhaka; Ellie Aben, Manila


Macron rejects Trump’s idea for Putin to mediate Israel-Iran crisis

Updated 9 sec ago
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Macron rejects Trump’s idea for Putin to mediate Israel-Iran crisis

  • “Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken,” he said, adding that he has spoken with Trump ahead of his trip, and would speak with him about Greenland at the G7

PARIS/COPENHAGEN: French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Greenland to offer his support to the Arctic island, said on Sunday that Russia lacked the credibility to mediate the crisis between Israel and Iran as US President Donald Trump has suggested.
In an interview with ABC News on Sunday,
Trump said he was open to Putin
, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, mediating between Israel and Iran. Macron said he rejected such an idea.
“I do not believe that Russia, which is now engaged in a high-intensity conflict and has decided not to respect the UN Charter for several years now, can be a mediator,” Macron said.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Macron is first foreign leader to visit since Trump threats

• Macron says his visit is show of European solidarity

• French president invited by leaders of Greenland and Denmark

He also said France did not take part in any of Israel’s attacks against Iran.
Macron was visiting Greenland, a self-governing part of Denmark with the right to declare independence that Trump has threatened to take over, ahead of a trip to Canada for the Group of Seven Leaders’ summit.
In a press conference alongside Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Macron said the island was threatened by “predatory ambition,” and that its situation was a wakeup call for all Europeans.
“Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken,” he said, adding that he has spoken with Trump ahead of his trip, and would speak with him about Greenland at the G7. “I think there is a way forward in order to clearly build a better future in cooperation and not in provocation or confrontation.”
However, Macron said he ultimately doubted the United States would invade Greenland.
“I don’t believe that in the end, the US, which is an ally and a friend, will ever do something aggressive against another ally,” he said, adding he believed “the United States of America remains engaged in NATO and our key and historical alliances.”
Trump has said he wants the United States to take over the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island, and has not ruled out force. His vice president, JD Vance, visited a US military base there in March. Macron is the first foreign leader to visit Greenland since Trump’s explicit threats to “get” the island.
According to an IFOP poll for NYC.eu published on Saturday, 77 percent of French people and 56 percent of Americans disapprove of an annexation of Greenland by the US and 43 percent of the French would back using French military power to prevent a US invasion.
Denmark’s Frederiksen made several visits to Paris after Trump’s threats to seek French and European backing, and has placed orders for French-made surface-to-air missiles, in a shift of focus for Copenhagen.

 


Russia says it struck oil refinery that supplies Ukrainian army with fuel

Updated 9 min 15 sec ago
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Russia says it struck oil refinery that supplies Ukrainian army with fuel

  • President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the attack on the central Poltava region as a vile strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure

MOSCOW: Russian forces carried out an overnight strike on the Kremenchuk oil refinery that supplies fuel to Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region, Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the attack on the central Poltava region as a vile strike against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
“Unfortunately, there was damage to the energy infrastructure,” Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation.
“This is Russia’s (effort to) spit on everything that the international community is trying to do to stop this war.” He said it occurred “after the Americans asked us not to strike at Russian energy facilities.”
The Russian defense ministry’s statement said that missiles had been fired at the refinery in Ukraine’s Poltava region from both sea and air and that strike drones were also used in what it said had been a successful attack.
Russia has claimed Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region as its own and controls most of its two regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine is fighting to stop Russia from taking control of the rest of Donbas and has said it plans to retake territory it has lost, through a combination of force and diplomacy.
The Russian Defense Ministry said separately that its forces had taken control of the village of Malynivka in the Donetsk region, known in Russia as Ulyanovka.
It also said its forces had advanced deep into enemy defenses in Ukraine’s Sumy region and inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian units there. Sumy is not one of the regions Russia has formally claimed as its own, but it has spoken of creating a buffer zone there. Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Andriivka village in northeastern Sumy as part of a drive to expel Russian forces from the area.
He said Russia has amassed 53,000 troops in the vicinity.


EU foreign ministers to discuss Israel-Iran conflict on Tuesday

People run along a street amid smoke following the Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Updated 15 June 2025
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EU foreign ministers to discuss Israel-Iran conflict on Tuesday

  • The emergency call was organized as Iran and Israel broadened exchanges of missile and drone strikes against each other

BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers will meet by video link on Tuesday to discuss the Iran-Israel conflict and “possible next steps” aimed at bringing about a de-escalation, an official for the bloc’s foreign policy chief said.
“In light of the gravity of the situation in the Middle East, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas has convened a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers via video link for Tuesday,” said the official in her office on Sunday.
The emergency call was organized as Iran and Israel broadened exchanges of missile and drone strikes against each other.
The conflict, triggered on Friday by a surprise Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets, has led to a mounting death toll on both sides.
The EU ministers’ meeting “will provide an opportunity for an exchange of views, coordination on diplomatic outreach to Tel Aviv and Tehran, and possible next steps,” the official in Kallas’s office said.
The official underlined that the European Union was committed to “regional security and de-escalation” and would expend “all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and to find a lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue which can only be through a negotiated deal.”


Tens of thousands rally in Dutch protest for Gaza

Updated 15 June 2025
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Tens of thousands rally in Dutch protest for Gaza

  • “More than 150,000 people here dressed in red — and a clear majority of the Dutch population — just want concrete sanctions to stop the genocide in Gaza,” said Michiel Servaes, director of Oxfam Novib
  • Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam organize massive demonstration

THE HAGUE: Tens of thousands of people dressed in red marched through the streets of The Hague on Sunday to demand more action from the Dutch government against what they termed a “genocide” in Gaza.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Oxfam organized the demonstration to the International Court of Justice through the city, creating a so-called “red line.”
With many waving Palestinian flags and some chanting “Stop the Genocide,” the demonstrators turned a central park in the city into a sea of red on a sunny afternoon.
One of the organizing groups, Oxfam Novib, estimated that 150,000 people participated in the march. Dutch police generally do not give estimates of demonstration turnouts.
Protesters brandished banners reading “Don’t look away, do something,” “Stop Dutch complicity,” and “Be silent when kids sleep, not when they die.”
Organizers urged the Dutch government — which collapsed on June 3 after a far-right party pulled out of a fragile coalition — to do more to rein in Israel for its military offensive on the Palestinian territory.
“More than 150,000 people here dressed in red — and a clear majority of the Dutch population — just want concrete sanctions to stop the genocide in Gaza,” said Michiel Servaes, director of Oxfam Novib.
“We demand action now from our government,” added Servaes.
Dodo Van Der Sluis, a 67-year-old pensioner, said: “It has to stop. Enough is enough. I can’t take it anymore.”
“I’m here because I think it’s maybe the only thing you can do now as a Dutch citizen, but it’s something you have to do,” she added.
A previous protest in The Hague on May 18 drew more than 100,000 people, according to organizers, who described it as the country’s largest demonstration in 20 years.
Prime Minister Dick Schoof wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “To all those people in The Hague I say: we see you and we hear you.”
“In the end, our goal is the same: to end the suffering in Gaza as soon as possible.”
The Gaza war was sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 55,207 people, the majority of them civilians.
The International Court of Justice is currently weighing a case brought by South Africa against Israel, arguing its actions in Gaza breach the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Thousands of demonstrators protested across France on Saturday in support of Palestinians and calling for peace in Gaza.
Protesters criticized France’s stance on the conflict, branding it conciliatory or even “complicit” with the Israeli government.
French trade unions, left-wing parties and pro-Palestinian activist groups called for a global weekend of protests against Israel’s offensive in the territory.
In Paris, where the largest march took place, police counted 9,000 demonstrators, while the CGT trade union and hard-left party France Unbowed said 150,000 attended the gathering.
Thousands of people also rallied in the cities of Marseille, Toulouse and Rennes.
European Parliament member Rima Hassan called on supporters to “deviate, disobey and take all necessary actions to enforce international law, to put an end to genocide.”
She recently spent three days in a detention centre in Israel after attempting to breach its blockade of Gaza on a boat with other activists.
“We don’t want what is happening in Gaza to be silenced. Every day we hear that 30, 60 people have died. It has become routine, we don’t see it anymore and I’m afraid that with what’s happening with Iran, it will become even more invisible,” said one protester.

 


Families hold funerals for Air India crash victims

Updated 15 June 2025
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Families hold funerals for Air India crash victims

  • Funerals were held in India for some of the at least 279 people killed in one of the world’s worst plane crashes in decades
  • Health officials have begun handing over the first passenger bodies identified through DNA testing, delivering them to grieving relatives in the western city of Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Mourners covered white coffins with flowers in India on Sunday as funerals were held for some of the at least 279 people killed in one of the world’s worst plane crashes in decades.
Health officials have begun handing over the first passenger bodies identified through DNA testing, delivering them to grieving relatives in the western city of Ahmedabad, but the wait went on for most families.
“They said it would take 48 hours. But it’s been four days and we haven’t received any response,” said Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother was a passenger on the jetliner.
There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound Air India jet when it crashed Thursday into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground as well.
“My brother was the sole breadwinner of the family,” Christian told AFP. “So what happens next?“
At a crematorium in the city, around 20 to 30 mourners chanted prayers in a funeral ceremony for Megha Mehta, a passenger who had been working in London.
As of Sunday evening, 47 crash victims have been identified, according to Rajnish Patel, a doctor at Ahmedabad’s civil hospital.
“This is a meticulous and slow process, so it has to be done meticulously only,” Patel said.
One victim’s relative who did not want to be named told AFP they had been instructed not to open the coffin when they receive it.
Witnesses reported seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains.
Workers went on clearing debris from the site on Sunday, while police inspected the area.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it went down moments after takeoff, smashing into buildings used by medical staff.
The majority of those injured on the ground have been discharged, Patel said, with one or two remaining in critical care.
Cause of the disaster
Indian authorities have yet to identify the cause of the disaster and have ordered inspections of Air India’s Dreamliners.
Authorities announced Sunday that the second black box, the cockpit voice recorder, had been recovered. This may offer investigators more clues about what went wrong.
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday he hoped decoding the first black box, the flight data recorder, would “give an in-depth insight” into the circumstances of the crash.
Imtiyaz Ali, who was still waiting for a DNA match to find his brother, said the airline should have supported families faster.
“I’m disappointed in them. It is their duty,” said Ali, who was contacted by the airline on Saturday.
“Next step is to find out the reason for this accident. We need to know,” he told AFP.
One person escaped alive from the wreckage, British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, whose brother was also on the flight.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.
Among the passengers was a father of two young girls, Arjun Patoliya, who had traveled to India to scatter his wife’s ashes following her death weeks earlier.
“I really hope that those girls will be looked after by all of us,” said Anjana Patel, the mayor of London’s Harrow borough where some of the victims lived.
“We don’t have any words to describe how the families and friends must be feeling,” she added.
While communities were in mourning, one woman recounted how she survived by arriving late at the airport.
“The airline staff had already closed the check-in,” said 28-year-old Bhoomi Chauhan.
“At that moment, I kept thinking that if only we had left a little earlier, we wouldn’t have missed our flight,” she told the Press Trust of India news agency.