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Yesterday, the Thai government announced that contact tracing (identification of high risk personnel) is the most valid and effective method for battling the Covid-19 outbreak around the country. The spokesperson, and now familiar frontman, of the Centre of Covid-19 Situation Administration Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin has also revealed that “this is partly because Thailand has limited resources and can not afford to use the mass screening technique to uncover new infections.” “For example, using Thailand’s top tourist destination ‘Phuket’, which has suffered for the highest ratio for infections, the statistics are as follows…” Phuket at 44.03 cases for every 100,000 people. Bangkok at 23.03 cases for every 100,000 people. Yala at 15.72 cases for every 100,000 people. Bangkok’s population is 8.281 million whereas Phuket’s population is at only 416,582. The first infection in Phuket, was found on January 26 and the numbers have been rising rapidly, leading to most districts and ... » Learn More about Mass-testing vs contact tracing in Thailand

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte has urged Congress, especially the Senate, to fast-track three bills which will further open up the economy to more foreign investors and, according to his economic managers, help the economy recover from pandemic-induced recession. In an April 12 letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the President said he certified the immediate passage of amendments to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act, as well as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. Amendments to the antiquated public service and foreign investment laws would allow greater foreign participation in sectors that had been restricted only to Filipino investors. The proposed amendment to the Retail Trade law seeks to bring down the ceiling for capital required of foreign-led retailers for setting up shop in the Philippines. Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco was also furnished the letter, a printed copy of which was sent by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez to ... » Learn More about Duterte asks Congress to give priority to new laws removing barriers to foreign investments

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. INQUIRER file photo / Niño Jesus Orbeta MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will push for adequate funding for the implementation of the National Integrated Cancer Control (NICC) Act when the proposed budget for 2021 reaches the bicameral conference committee, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said Wednesday. Velasco underscored the importance of the law, saying that it could help make cancer treatment and care “more equitable and affordable” for the public. “The importance of this law and its full implementation cannot be overstated.  We have to make sure that it is sufficiently funded so it could effectively serve its purpose of strengthening government efforts to combat cancer and increasing the fighting chance of patients to overcome the disease,” Velasco said in a statement. The NICC Act, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019, established the National Integrated Cancer Control Program which serves as the framework for all ... » Learn More about House to push for adequate funding for cancer control law in bicam — Velasco

The Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has now spread to 27 countries and territories worldwide. There are 17,387 confirmed cases and 362 deaths as of this morning. Welcome to our Monday morning update as we enter a new month with the coronavirus still growing , both inside China and outside, with the first death outside China over the weekend – a 44 year old Chinese visitor to The Philippines. Thailand currently has 19 confirmed cases of the virus with 7 people already fully recovered and going home. One of the cases is a Bangkok taxi driver who was confirmed with the Coronavirus on Friday and had never visited China. In other milestones… • Doctors in Thailand claim they discovered a medical treatment that cured a patient of coronavirus ‘in 48 hours’. Dr. Kriangsak Atipornwanich, from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok, says he treated a 71 year old female from China with a combination of drugs used in HIV and flu treatments. He said the patient had previously been treated with only ... » Learn More about Coronavirus UPDATE – Confirmed cases exceed 17,000, 362 deaths

LAWMAKERS crossed party lines on Wednesday to file a joint resolution asking President Rodrigo Duterte to immediately withdraw an executive order imposing tariff cuts on pork importation. Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said the resolution will “soon” be considered for adoption by the House of Representatives. “We also trust that a similar measure will be filed and adopted by our Senate counterparts to avert this grave disaster that will certainly kill our local hog industry, in particular — and in general, the agricultural sector,” Zarate said. The Joint House Resolution, which remains unnumbered as of press time, also seeks to reverse President Duterte’s order to expand the minimum access volume (MAV) of pork imports. Despite opposition from local hog raisers, the President signed last week Executive Order 128, which reduces the tariff rates for imported meat to 5 percent from 30 percent until mid-2021 and between 10 percent and 20 percent in ... » Learn More about Lawmakers to Duterte: Scrap pork tariff EO

The top official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has denied allegations that a syndicate within the agency was getting kickbacks for every kilo of pork that enters the country. “On the alleged ‘tongpats’ of about P5 to P7 per kilo of imported pork, the present DA leadership categorically denies any involvement if such scheme indeed exists,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement on Wednesday. “On my personal and official capacity as secretary of the DA, the undersigned is one with President Rodrigo Duterte in the strict observance of good governance and no corruption in government, and will never allow any corrupt practice under his stead and leadership,” he added. Citing insider information, Sen. Panfilo Lacson claimed on Monday that a syndicate at the DA was collecting between P5 to P7 a kilo from imported meat and could earn as much as P6 billion a year from the proposal to increase pork import volumes by 350,000 metric tons (MT). Despite opposition from ... » Learn More about No pork import ‘tongpats,’ syndicate, says agri chief

KUDOS to President Rodrigo Duterte for following the recommendation of his economic team and certifying as urgent proposed amendments to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. The ball, as the saying goes, is now in Congress’ court. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said the President had certified as “urgent” Senate Bill 2094, or “An Act amending Commonwealth Act 146, otherwise known as the Public Service Act”; SB 1156, or “An Act promoting foreign investments, amending thereby Republic Act 7042, otherwise known as the Foreign Investments Act of 1991”; and SB 1840, or “An Act amending Republic Act 8762, otherwise known as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000.” In a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd on April 12, Duterte said the passage of the measures will “address the immediate and continuing need for legislative reforms to provide a more conducive investment climate, increase job opportunities, foster ... » Learn More about Economic bills are not just urgent but imperative

SINGAPORE: Over a year and four months, a man stalked a young woman he had seen in school, through junior college and university, creating 17 Instagram accounts to harass her, emailing her father and hiring private investigators to film her. Toh Wen Jie, 20, pleaded guilty midway through a trial on Wednesday (Apr 14) to one count of stalking the victim between October 2018 and February 2020. He sent her sexually explicit messages, calling her his fiancee, girlfriend and wife. According to court documents, he used "burner phones" and accounts when she blocked or ignored him. Toh waited for her outside her university for three to four hours a time over about a week, and wrote on his own question-and-answer Tellonym account that he had "a lot of time to kill" and that "I will literally strangle you if (it's) not against the law". The court heard that Toh first began eyeing the victim in 2016 when she was taking part in an event that is unnamed to protect her identity. She is now ... » Learn More about Man admits stalking young woman from JC to university, hired private eyes to film her

KOTA KINABALU: A new Covid-19 cluster here dubbed as "Jalan Khidmat" recorded 24 cumulative cases, with the index cases being two Form 2 students from a religious school. State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the boys were tested positive during symptomatic screening on Monday (April 12). "Following their cases, a control team has conducted sampling on all the contacts in the school. "Out of the 796 samples taken, 22 were confirmed positive, 228 samples came out negative, while 544 samples are still awaiting test results," he added in a statement to update daily Covid-19 developments in Sabah on Wednesday (April 14). The cluster was one of the two reported today, the second being "Batu 10" in the Tawau district, with a total of 16 cases. Masidi said the index case is a female teacher of a primary school, who was confirmed positive following a symptomatic screening. The husband of the index case, who works at Tawau Cocoa Board, was ... » Learn More about Covid-19: Two new clusters in Sabah involving students, teacher

Italian piano craftsman Luigi Borgato poses in his workshop with the Doppio Borgato (Rear), an imposing assembly of two grand pianos on top of each other, with 37 pedals, in Borgo Veneto, near Padua on April 8, 2021. – Italian craftsman Luigi Borgato grew his business into a prestigious brand capable of attracting buyers from all over the world, until the coronavirus pandemic abruptly put a halt to it all. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) BORGO VENETO, Italy — At the age of 23, Luigi Borgato decided to build his first piano, for himself. In the decades that ensued, the Italian craftsman grew his business into a prestigious brand capable of attracting buyers from all over the world — until the coronavirus pandemic abruptly put a halt to it all. Now, the 58-year-old fears his ancient trade could disappear entirely in Italy, the country that invented the pianoforte at the end of the 17th century. “Everything stopped, there are no more concerts, no more contacts with musicians. ... » Learn More about Italian piano maker sees craft threatened with extinction