COVID-19

Asia-Pacific countries should boost their healthcare capacity and fully vaccinate their people to prepare for a surge in Covid-19 cases fuelled by the Omicron variant, officials at the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday (Dec 3).…

Malaysia's Health Ministry is closely monitoring news that Singapore has detected two cases of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron. Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said additional testing to detect the presence of the new…

India announced its first two cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant on Thursday (Dec 2), after battling a record jump in infections and deaths between April and June in the country, where the Delta variant is the dominant strain. Top…

The Philippines will reopen its borders to tourists from some countries on a trial basis from Dec 1, its government said on Friday (Nov 26), as part of efforts to rebuild an economy hit hard by the pandemic. Foreigners vaccinated against…

India issued an advisory to all states to rigorously test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other "at risk" countries amid concerns over a new coronavirus variant, after easing some of its travel restrictions…

Thailand plans to dole out nearly US$5 billion (S$6.8 billion) in cash to millions of farmers reeling from the impacts of Covid-19, floods, droughts and poor crop prices. The Cabinet will consider a programme to allot 155 billion baht…

A pandemic-spurred demand for flu vaccines in India has surged since a devastating second wave of Covid-19 brought the nation's healthcare system to its knees earlier this year. Vaccinations against influenza are not very common in India…

Indonesia has administered at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to half its population, reaching that benchmark after nearly a year of starting the programme. More than 135.4 million people have received at least one shot, while…

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a record 56 trillion yen (S$665 billion) stimulus for the world's third-largest economy on Friday (Nov 19) as he looks to shore up the country's patchy pandemic recovery. The massive…

Mr Subhash Goyal, chairman of one of the largest travel groups in India, STIC Travel, is booking two tickets for him and his wife on the first available flight to Singapore in anticipation of the launch of a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL)…