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Xinjiang health authorities said on October 27, 2020, that they had tested 4.7 million people for Covid-19 in the city of Kashgar. The city in China's far western region of Xinjiang has gone back into a lockdown after more than 100 coronavirus patients were identified in a village in Shufu county, about 24km (15 mil…
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on October 26, 2020, warned nations against politicising the coronavirus. He said such actions have led to confusion and disrespect for science, and worsened the spread of Covid-19. Over the past week, the world set another record for the number o…
A 15,000-seat swimming venue for the Olympic Games in Japan next year was opened on October 24, 2020. The US$542 million Aquatics Centre in Tokyo was completed in February, but its grand opening ceremony scheduled for March was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Japanese officials say they are determined…
In an effort to engage pandemic-grounded customers, Singapore Airlines has opened a restaurant in one of its A380 long-haul aircraft, serving meals on board even though it never leaves the tarmac. Restrictions to fight the spread of Covid-19 has caused a global downturn in air travel, placing many airlines under int…
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India’s annual Hindu festival Durga Puja, marking the triumph of good over evil, kicks off despite coronavirus restrictions. The festival is usually marked by dancing, drumming, eating and praying. But this year, the pandemic is changing the way people celebrate.
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Thailand’s protests began in March 2020 but lost momentum due to the Covid-19 pandemic before restarting in July. Tensions escalated in mid-October when tens of thousands of young protesters took to the streets, mostly in Bangkok but also in other parts of Thailand. The demonstrators demand the resignation of Prime …
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Hong Kong Cathay Dragon staff expressed regret and “strong dissatisfaction” over Cathay Pacific Airways’ decision to lay off 5,900 staff and end its regional Dragon brand due to the coronavirus pandemic. Connie Leung, vice-president of the Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Flight Attendants Association, spoke at a press con…
Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has announced it will cut thousands of jobs including 5,300 staff based in the city, and that it will immediately shut down its mainland China-focused Cathay Dragon brand. Cathay CEO Augustus Tang Kin-wing said the moves announced on October 21, 2020, were a “heart…
Cathay Pacific Airways says it will lay off 5,300 staff in Hong Kong, as well as 600 overseas employees under a global HK$2.2 billion (US$284 million) restructuring to cope with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Hong Kong’s flagship carrier will also axe its Regional airline brand, Cathay Dragon, according to a…
China says it will sell its Covid-19 vaccines around the world at a “fair and reasonable” price, and that it will help ensure the jabs are available to developing countries. The pledge was issued on October 20, 2020, by Zheng Zhongwei, head of the vaccine development task in China’s National Health Commission.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on October 20 pledged low-interest loans of 50 billion yen (US$474 million) to help cushion Indonesia's economy from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also agreed with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to step up security cooperation and begin discussions on resuming trave…
When the Covid-19 pandemic started in January 2020, many around the world saw Hong Kong as an example of how communities could successfully contain the novel coronavirus that causes the disease. But the city has seen infections rise several times, including a third wave in July that prompted a tightening of social-d…
Nearly 200 singers, choristers and orchestral players from Wuhan performed a symphony inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic in Beijing Poly Theatre earlier this month. The solemn and stirring music brought some in the audience to tears. Music professors say it is common practice for the world to turn to symphonies to ra…
A boy in northwestern China’s Gansu province was sent flying into the air by an explosion after he threw a firecracker into a manhole. He suffered scald injuries on his face, and was being treated in hospital.
Demand for sex toys is increasing in China, which is already the world's biggest exporter of bedroom aids, with millennials and women driving the country’s US$14.7 billion sex toy market. While attitudes towards sex in China’s traditionally conservative society had already been changing, the online retail market for…
China’s hotel business benefited from a surge in travellers during the October 2020 “golden week”, the first major national holiday since the Covid-19 pandemic forced widespread lockdowns and travel restrictions. The spike in bookings around the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival period were seen as a sign that th…
Hong Kong officials will be looking closely for cases of unknown origin as the most critical signal of a potential start of a fourth wave of Covid-19 infection in the city, according to Dr David Hui, a close adviser to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and director of the Stanley Ho Centre for Emerging Infectious…
The world’s second-largest economy grew by 4.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2020, according to figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on October 19, 2020. China is expected to be one of the few countries in the world to register growth during a year heavily impacted by the coronavirus pa…
In an exclusive interview, Hong Kong government’s mental health adviser Wong Yan-lung said the city’s psychological wellness has taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic and political unrest since last year. The former Secretary for Justice also spoke with the South China Morning Post about harnessing the power of …
A robot is used to collect air samples at a hospital in Wuhan to test for the presence of coronavirus particles.
An amusement park in the Japanese capital Tokyo has found a unique way to safely welcome back some visitors during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Yomiuriland park has opened its doors to people tired of working from home, and is offering guests a way to roll on with business from a more uplifting location – the Ferris w…
The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said on October 15, 2020, that new measures to fight Covid-19 were “absolutely necessary” across Europe, which faces and exponential surge of coronavirus cases which may only get worse as winter arrives in the region.
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The Covid-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on the economies of China and India, countries normally noted for their relatively high levels of growth. But a tense military stand-off in a disputed mountainous border region, which led to a confrontation in June 2020 that reportedly left 20 Indian soldiers dead, has p…
After months of relatively clear skies brought on by pandemic lockdowns, air quality in India’s capital New Delhi deteriorated sharply in early October 2020. The poor air quality was reportedly caused by a combination of slower wind speeds and the burning of crop waste. Many farmers burn straw left in their fields a…
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Schoolteachers in the Philippines have invented a book disinfection device to help protect students and staff from coronavirus infections. Instructors at Ragay Science and Math Oriented High School in the province of Camarines Sur demonstrated their machine on October 7, 2020. Schools remain closed because of the Co…
China conducted mass Covid-19 testing in Qingdao on October 12, 2020, after a cluster of 12 cases was identified at a hospital in the eastern port city. The first patient identified was a 58-year-old tuberculosis patient who was confirmed to have the coronavirus on October 10.
Deserted beaches, boarded-up bars and closed hotels have left Thailand’s resort island of Phuket resembling a ghost island. As of September 30, 2020, the nation’s prime tourist hotspot was devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and there was little sign that holidaymakers would be returning soon.
A University of Hong Kong study has found that ranitidine bismuth citrate, or RBC, a drug commonly used to treat stomach ulcers, shows promise in preventing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from replicating in an animal model. The researchers said RBC's effectiveness is comparable to the outcome of the coronavirus drug re…
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The virus that causes Covid-19 can survive on plastic banknotes, phone screens and stainless steel for up to 28 days, according to a study published on October 7, 2020, by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
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China is joining Covax, the global Covid-19 vaccine alliance, to help ensure equitable immunisation distribution to developing countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on October 9. China is the biggest economy yet to join the World Health Organisation-led bid to control the coronavirus …
A giant rice crane was seen in Suncheon, a city in southern South Korea, on October 8, 2020. It is a joint effort from local children and farmers to urge the country to ‘Cheer Up!’ amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia is looking to return some planes to lessors to shrink the size of its fleet. Announcing the plans on October 8, 2020, the airline’s CEO Tony Fernandes said AirAsia is making the move to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thailand's Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul helped plant cannabis seedlings on October 8, 2020, as the government looks to tap into the multibillion-dollar potential of medical marijuana. Thailand was the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise medical marijuana in 2018, but recreational use and oth…
Locked up all day in a tiny, squalid hut in the seaside town of Polewali in Indonesia’s province of West Sulawesi, Rauf is a prisoner not only to his mental health issues but also because those who care for him have locked him away. Padlocks, shackles and chains are frequently used on such patients in Indonesia and …
Video from social media shows a 33-storey residential tower engulfed in flames on October 8, 2020, in the city of Ulsan, South Korea. Local media reports said the fire began on the 12th floor before flames driven by strong winds spread to the entire 136-household building. No casualties were immediately reported by …
