COVID-19 PANDEMIC: South Korea’s 2nd Wave and Other ASIAN COVID-19 Updates
Visitors wearing masks fill out a form which is mandatory to get into a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, on Aug 26, 2020.PHOTO: REUTERS
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“The 2019 Plague” Day 272
South Korea orders doctors to stop strike amid crisis
Pedestrians wearing face masks walk through the Myeongdong shopping district of Seoul. PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP) — Health officials in South Korea ordered thousands of striking doctors to return to work as the country counted its 13th straight day of triple-digit jumps in coronavirus cases.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said those who refuse could have their licenses suspended or revoked, or even face a prison term of less than three years.
Doctors in the greater Seoul area joined physicians in other parts of the country in a three-day strike starting yesterday against government plans to boost the number of medical students.
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BRUNEI: No new COVID-19 cases recorded in Brunei
James Kon Brunei Darussalam recorded no new COVID-19 cases keeping the national tally at 144 yesterday. Two active cases are receiving treatment at the National Isolation Centre. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has taken 357 samples to test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the past 24 hours and has carried out 50,693 tests since …
PETALING JAYA: 6 new Covid-19 cases detected today (Updated)
PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry is beefing up its health intervention campaign in the northern states of the peninsula to stem the spread of Covid-19 linked to the Tawar cluster.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement today that the activities would be concentrated in Kedah as 85% of new cases are linked to Tawar.
Several new infections in neighbouring Penang and Perlis have also been linked to the Tawar cluster.
Noor Hisham said the activities would include case detection, stricter enforcement of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) as well as closure of schools and business premises for disinfection and sanitisation.
Those who have been in close contact with Covid-19 patients will also be screened.
The Tawar cluster has recorded 73 confirmed infections since the index case – a local man who is a trader – was discovered on Aug 12.
He said a total of 4,051 individuals from this cluster have been screened.
Noor Hisham also reported that nationwide, there were six new cases as of noon yesterday, and three of them were from the Tawar cluster.
Of the others, one was a foreigner who had just arrived from Singapore. Of the remaining two, one was detected at Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Star and the other was found in a screening exercise on symptomatic patients. One of them is also a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patient.
This brings the national tally 9,291.
Noor Hisham added that there are now 188 active cases, with nine being treated in intensive care units. Six of them need respiratory assistance.
There were no new fatalities reported, he said, leaving the death toll at 125.
He added that seven patients have since been discharged, bringing the number of those who have recovered to 8,978.
BANGKOK: One more coronavirus infection
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Another coronavirus case has been reported, almost three weeks after the man arrived in Thailand from India.
A statement issued by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Thursday said the new patient was a 35-year-old Indian man who arrived in Thailand on Aug 8.
A test last Friday, 14 days after he was first quarantined at a state facility, was found to be positive.
There was no explanation of the extra week.
The new case brought the total number detected in Thailand to 3,404.
Most have already recovered. The death toll has remained at 58 since June 2.
The Covid-19 outbreak has shut down travel to Thailand but Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Wednesday the country needed to reopen the door to tourism to rescue failing local businesses in tourist centres.
Phuket has been selected as a model for the country to reopen tourism for foreign visitors.
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8.27.2020
