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South Korea’s COVID-19 rules put some vaccinated foreigners in limbo

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SEOUL: South Korea imposed stricter measures on Monday (Dec 6) to contain growing coronavirus infections and the Omicron variant, leaving some foreign residents vaccinated overseas effectively barred from places such as restaurants, cafes and cinemas.

South Korea recognises the vaccination status of Korean citizens who were vaccinated overseas but not foreigners, unless they entered the country under a quarantine exemption.

Some foreign residents, particularly from Europe and the United States, were vaccinated earlier in the year when South Korea had not yet made vaccines available and were not eligible for the quarantine exemptions that were extended to certain people in business, education or for humanitarian reasons.

It is unclear how many people are affected but the problem has caught the attention of several foreign embassies, which have been lobbying unsuccessfully for weeks for a change.

“We continue to argue for urgent review of the guidance in order to ensure equitable treatment of foreign and Korean nationals vaccinated overseas,” Stephen Burns, a spokesman for the British embassy in Seoul, told Reuters.

The Australian Embassy is in ongoing contact with the South Korean government on this matter and continues to advocate for a change to their policy, ambassador Catherine Raper said in a post on Twitter on Monday.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency says the policy affects a small number of people and is necessary given rising COVID-19 cases.

“A cautious approach is required at this time with locally and globally confirmed cases of the Omicron variant and the possibility of further community spread,” a spokesperson said, adding that officials will review the rules depending on the domestic outbreak situation.

The KDCA reported 4,325 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, for a total of 477,358 since the pandemic began, with 3,893 deaths overall. The country has detected 24 cases of the new Omicron variant.

In response to growing daily cases, South Korea has put on hold previous efforts to “live with COVID-19”, instead imposing new vaccine pass requirements and ending quarantine exemptions for all travellers arriving from overseas.

The problem for foreigners with unregistered vaccines stands to become more acute as previous rules that required a government vaccine pass or negative COVID-19 test for entry to gyms, saunas, and bars have now been expanded to include cafes, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces.

Unvaccinated individuals or people without proof of vaccination can still dine in restaurants, but only if they sit alone.

“An example of how South Korea isn’t quite a truly global, international country yet,” tweeted Jean Lee, an analyst on Korea affairs at US-based Wilson Center.

In March, authorities in several major cities including Seoul sparked an uproar by ordering all foreign workers be tested for coronavirus. Some of those measures were dropped after complaints by embassies and a human rights probe.

 

Source: Reuters/ng

Poor weather hampers search and rescue efforts at Indonesia volcano

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SUMBERWULUH, Indonesia: Officials monitoring Indonesia’s Semeru volcano on Monday (Dec 6) warned residents to remain vigilant after a deadly eruption over the weekend, as heavy wind and rain brought search-and-rescue efforts to a halt.

The tallest mountain on the island of Java erupted dramatically on Saturday, shooting a towering column of ash into the sky that blanketed surrounding villages. Fourteen people were killed and dozens more injured.

Aerial footage showed roofs jutting out of an ashen landscape, while on the ground military officers, police and residents dug through mud with their hands to extricate victims.

On Monday, the head of the Semeru Volcano Observatory, Liswanto, warned people to keep a safe distance from the mountain, amid reports anxious residents had returned to their homes to check on belongings and livestock.

“The status of Mt. Semeru is still at level 2, which means at this level, people need to be more vigilant because the potential threat is still there,” he said.

More than 50 people had suffered injuries from the eruption, mostly burns. Lava flows destroyed a strategic bridge connecting two areas in the nearby district of Lumajang with the city of Malang.

In the Sumberwuluh area, where two trucks lay half-buried by volcanic ash, recovery efforts came to an abrupt halt because of strong winds, a Reuters witness said.

Public kitchens and health facilities have been set up for more than 1,000 people who have been displaced.

A trauma healing team to work with children affected by the eruption has been dispatched, CNN Indonesia reported, while hundreds of aid packages, including rice, blankets and clothes and other basic necessities have been sent to the area.

Semeru is one of more than 100 active volcanoes in Indonesia, a country that straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity that rests atop multiple tectonic plates.

Source: Reuters/ng

Smouldering debris, mud hinder Indonesia volcano rescue; at least 14 dead

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LUMAJANG, Indonesia: Rescuers were searching for survivors Sunday (Dec 5) on the slopes of the highest volcano on Indonesia’s island of Java after it was rocked by an eruption that killed at least 14 people, as smouldering debris and thick mud hampered their efforts.

Mount Semeru in Lumajang district in East Java province spewed thick columns of ash into the sky, and searing gas and lava flowed down its slopes after a sudden eruption Saturday triggered by heavy rains. Villages and nearby towns were blanketed with falling ash and several hamlets were buried under tonnes of mud from volcanic debris.

Authorities warned the thousands of people who fled the volcano’s wrath not to return during Sunday’s lull in volcanic activity, but some villagers were desperate to check on livestock and possessions left behind. In several areas, everything – from the thinnest tree branch to couches and chairs inside homes – was caked with ash.

The debris and lava mixed with rainfall to form thick mud that destroyed the main bridge connecting Lumajang and the neighboring district of Malang, as well as a smaller bridge, said Thoriqul Haq, the district chief in Lumajang.

The eruption eased pressure that had been building under a lave dome perched on the crater. But experts warned that the dome could still further collapse, causing an avalanche of the blistering gas and debris trapped beneath it.

A thunderstorm and days of rain, which eroded and partly collapsed the dome atop the 3,676m Semeru, triggered the eruption, said Eko Budi Lelono, who heads the geological survey centre.

He said flows of searing gas and lava travelled up to 800m to a nearby river at least twice on Saturday. People were advised to stay 5km from the crater’s mouth, the agency said.

Television reports showed people screaming and running under a huge ash cloud, their faces wet from rain mixed with volcanic dust.

Villagers carry their belongings as they evacuate to a safer place following the eruption of Mount Semeru. (Photo: AP/Trisnadi)

Despite an increase in activity since Wednesday, Semeru’s alert status had remained at the third highest of four levels since it began erupting last year, and Indonesia’s Volcanology Center for Geological Hazard Mitigation did not raise it this week, Lelono said.

Semeru, the stratovolcano, is also known as Mahameru, meaning “The Great Mountain” in Sanskrit. It has erupted many times over the last 200 years. Still, as with other volcanoes – it is one of 129 under watch in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago – more than 62,000 people call Sumeru’s fertile slopes home. The volcano last erupted in January, with no casualties.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines. Currently 54 per cent of the country’s nearly 270 million people live on Java, the country’s most densely populated area.

Officials said earlier they had hoped they could avoid casualties by closely monitoring the volcano, but the death toll quickly rose from one late Saturday to 14 on Sunday.

A rescuer walks past a house buried in the ash following the eruption of Mount Semeru. (Photo: AP/Trisnadi)

A National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) official said in a news conference late on Sunday that 14 people had been killed. Fifty-six were injured and 1,300 have been evacuated.

Most injuries were burns, authorities said.

Taufiq Ismail Marzuqi, a Lumajang resident and volunteer, told Reuters that rescue efforts are “very dire” because of the severed bridge and volunteers lacking experience.

In a video he recorded, police and military officials tried to excavate bodies with their bare hands.

BNPB will rebuild the wrecked homes, and heavy equipment, including excavators and bulldozers, is being deployed, its chief said.

More than 900 villagers streamed into makeshift emergency shelters after Saturday’s powerful eruption, but many others defied official warnings and chose to remain in their homes, saying they had to tend to their livestock and protect their property, said Haryadi Purnomo of East Java’s search and rescue agency.

“We’ll do everything we can to evacuate them by preparing trucks and motorbikes for them to flee at any time,” Purnomo said.

He said his teams were searching for survivors and victims on the southern slope of the mountain, but thick mud, smoldering debris and heavy rain have hampered the search. He described several formerly lush villages south of the crater as “death zones”.

“There’s no life there … trees, farms, houses are scorched, everything is covered in heavy gray ash,” Purnomo said, adding that several other areas were virtually untouched. Search and rescue efforts were temporary suspended on Sunday afternoon amid fears that smoldering debris and hot ash could tumble down from the crater due to heavy rains.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Sunday that he instructed his Cabinet ministers and disaster and military officials to coordinate the response.

Source: AGENCIES/vc

Islamic countries to meet on Afghanistan crisis on Dec 19

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister called on Saturday (Dec 4) for a fresh effort to stop neighbouring Afghanistan sliding further into crisis as he announced an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) later this month.

The meeting of foreign ministers from Islamic countries will be held in Islamabad on Dec 19, with delegations from the European Union and the so-called P5 group of the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China also invited.

“To abandon Afghanistan at this stage would be a historic mistake,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad, warning that half the country was facing the risk of starvation that could trigger further chaos.

“Instability could give way to renewed conflict, it could trigger an exodus of refugees,” he said.

There have been growing warnings of the humanitarian crisis facing Afghanistan since international aid was abruptly cut following the Taliban takeover on Aug 15 and fears of disaster if the situation is not brought under control.

However, getting help in has been hindered by sanctions on dealing with the Taliban, the US decision to freeze billions of dollars of central bank reserves held outside Afghanistan and the collapse of much of the country’s banking system.

Pakistan recently agreed to allow 50,000 tonnes of wheat to transit through its territory from India to help Afghanistan but aid agencies have warned that much more help is urgently needed.

Source: Reuters/jt

India detects third Omicron case, reports 415 COVID-19 deaths

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AHMEDABAD: India reported its third case of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday (Dec 4), government officials said, as total COVID-19 cases inched closer to the 35 million mark.

Officials in the western state of Gujarat said the patient who tested positive for Omicron was a 72-year old man of Indian origin who had lived in Zimbabwe for decades, and returned on Nov 28.

India reported 8,603 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total to 34.6 million. Deaths rose by 415 to 470,530.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month asked officials to focus on countries identified at risk, after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new variant to be “of concern”.

The WHO said Omicron, initially detected in South Africa, may spread more quickly than other forms of the virus.

India expects the Omicron variant to cause less severe illness, due to rising vaccination rates and high prior exposure to the Delta variant that infected nearly 70 per cent of the population by July.

The federal health ministry said on Thursday that India had identified two male patients, aged 66 and 46, who had the new strain in the southern state of Karnataka. The first person was a South African national while the second one, an Indian physician, had no recent travel history.

India, which suffered a record surge in infections and deaths in April and May due to the Delta variant, has fully vaccinated just half of its 944 million adults despite having ample supplies of domestically made shots.

Up to 84 per cent have received at least one dose, with more than 125 million people due for a second shot.

Source: Reuters/ga

South Korea reports record-high COVID-19 cases, deaths

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SEOUL: South Korea reported a record daily 5,352 new COVID-19 infections and 70 deaths, while a nationwide total of nine cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday (Dec 4).

The government on Friday announced that people visiting restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces will have to show vaccine passes. It is also reducing the limit on private gatherings to six people in the greater Seoul area, from 10 currently, and to eight from 12 for those residing outside of the capital, starting next Monday.

The hospitalisation rate was rising rapidly led by severe cases of COVID-19, with the number of serious and critical patients at 752 as of Friday, KDCA said.

South Korea has also confirmed three additional Omicron cases, bringing the total to nine after a fully vaccinated couple tested positive for the variant after travelling from Nigeria last week.

To fend off the new variant, authorities on Friday announced a 10-day mandatory quarantine requirement for all inbound travellers for two weeks, halting exemptions given earlier to fully vaccinated people.

South Korea has been battling the worst wave of infections since July, when the daily cases stood below 2,000 until the government switched to “living with COVID-19”. The cases hit 5,000s for the first time this week, putting a strain on the healthcare system.

The country, which has fully inoculated 91.7 per cent of its adult population, has so far reported a total of 467,907 COVID-19 infections, with 3,809 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Source: Reuters/zl

Sri Lankan manager killed by mob of workers at Pakistan factory

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LAHORE, Pakistan: A mob of factory employees in eastern Pakistan tortured and burned a Sri Lankan manager on Friday (Dec 3) over apparent blasphemy in a “horrific” attack that Prime Minister Imran Khan said brought shame on the country.

A police official in the eastern town of Sialkot, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, said investigators believed the attackers had accused the manager of blasphemy for tearing down a poster with Islamic holy verses.

“The factory workers tortured the manager,” said provincial government spokesman Hassan Khawar. “A total of 50 people so far have been identified and arrested.”

Khan condemned the killing and said he was personally overseeing the investigations and that those guilty would be punished.

“The horrific vigilante attack on a factory in Sialkot and the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan,” he said in a message on Twitter.

Television footage showed crowds of hundreds of people in the streets of Sialkot, in the heart of Pakistan’s most heavily industrialised region where much of the country’s export industry is based.

Underlining the shock caused across the political establishment, Pakistan’s powerful military also issued a statement condemning the “cold blooded murder.”

“Such extra judicial vigilantism cannot be condoned at any cost,” the military’s press wing said, adding that the chief of the army staff had ordered full support to the civil administration to bring those responsible to justice.

A Punjab police spokesman said more than 100 arrests had been made including the prime suspect, who he said was seen in videos torturing the Sri Lankan manager and instigating the people against him.

Mob killings over accusations of blasphemy – a crime that can carry the death sentence – have been frequent in Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Friday’s killing came only weeks after days of violent protests by the radical Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan movement, a Sunni Muslim group founded in 2015 to address actions it considers blasphemous to Islam.

Tahir Ashrafi, Khan’s adviser for Interfaith Harmony, condemned the killers in a recorded video statement shared on social media.

“It is a barbaric act and against Islam’s teaching,” he said.

Source: Reuters

Taiwan blames China-US trade war, pandemic for US trade imbalance

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TAIPEI: Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States is due to the China-US trade war and pandemic driving tech demand, a central bank official said on Friday (Dec 3), after the US Treasury said the island continued to exceed its currency manipulation thresholds.

The Treasury, in its semi-annual currency report, said no major US trading partners sought to manipulate their currencies for a trade advantage or for preventing effective balance of payments adjustments during the year through June 2021.

But it said that Taiwan, along with Vietnam, exceeded its trade surplus, current account and foreign exchange intervention thresholds, and it will continue to work with them to address US concerns.

A Taiwanese central bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters it would continue to communicate with the United States and that the two sides were always in communication.

Taiwan’s trade surplus with the United States exceeded US$20 billion last year as the China-US trade war and COVID-19 pandemic saw demand for made-in-Taiwan communication devices soar, with exports of those goods exceeding US$10 billion, rather than because of exchange rate reasons, the official added.

“This is our main point when we communicate with the US side,” the official said, reiterating what Taiwanese officials have said previously about the trade imbalance.

The trade war has seen tech companies in particular shift some manufacturing away from China to avoid US tariffs and political problems, while the work and study from home trend during the pandemic had boosted demand for laptops, tablets and smart phones.

Taiwan is a global hub for semiconductor production and a key supplier to Apple and other tech giants.

The Taiwan dollar’s 5.6 per cent gain against the greenback last year was among the strongest in Asia. It is up more than 2.5 per cent against the greenback this year and among the best-performing Asian currencies.

Taiwan was last formally labelled a currency manipulator by the United States in December 1992. It was put back on the monitoring list in 2020.

Source: Reuters/nh

Former PM Abe says Japan, US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan

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TAIPEI: Japan and the United States could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan, and Beijing needs to understand this, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday (Dec 1).

Tensions over Taiwan have risen as President Xi Jinping seeks to assert his country’s sovereignty claims against the island. Taiwan’s government says it wants peace, but will defend itself if needed.

Speaking virtually to a forum organised by Taiwanese think tank the Institute for National Policy Research, Abe noted the Senkaku islands – which China calls the Diaoyu Islands – Sakishima islands and Yonaguni island are a mere 100km or so away from Taiwan.

An armed invasion of Taiwan would be a grave danger to Japan, he added.

“A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance. People in Beijing, President Xi in particular, should never have a misunderstanding in recognising this,” Abe said.

Japan is host to major US military bases, including on the southern island of Okinawa, a short flight from Taiwan, which would be crucial for any US support during a Chinese attack.

The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though there is ambiguity about whether it would send forces to help Taiwan in a war with China.

The United States and its allies would take unspecified “action” if China were to use force to alter the status quo over Taiwan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month.

Abe, who stepped down as prime minister last year, is head of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and remains influential within the party.

Japan and Taiwan must work together to protect freedom and democracy, added Abe, speaking to an audience that included Cheng Wen-tsan, mayor of the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan, tipped as a possible future presidential candidate.

“A stronger Taiwan, a thriving Taiwan, and a Taiwan that guarantees freedom and human rights are also in Japan’s interests. Of course, this is also in the interests of the whole world,” Abe said.

Source: Reuters/lk

Malaysia pauses transition to COVID-19 endemic phase over new Omicron variant

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s efforts to transition to an endemic phase will be put on pause as the government looks to find out more about the new COVID-19 Omicron variant.

Senior Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on Tuesday (Nov 30) said the government was aware that the variant has not only spread in South Africa, but also to several other countries including Italy, Australia, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.

“Although we have not heard of any cases in our country to date, precautionary actions will continue to be implemented,” he said at a press conference after a meeting of ministers handling the country’s pandemic response.

“We are concerned that everything that we had planned before this, the announcements on the relaxation of SOPs (standard operating procedures), the seven criteria that we hoped to announce in the near future on the endemic phase, all this may be affected if we do not monitor the spread of Omicron more closely,” he said

Malaysia’s government had previously set seven criteria that needed to be achieved before the health ministry could declare the country as entering the endemic phase of living with the COVID-19 virus.

The criteria included the number of beds being utilised in hospitals, intensive care units and COVID-19 low-risk quarantine and treatment centres; testing capacity at laboratories and the rate of positive cases.

Hishammuddin said the health ministry was also seeking more information on the incubation period, symptoms and infectiousness of the Omicron variant, and would make an announcement on the matter soon.

In the meantime, the government would impose stricter border controls on countries where the new variant was prevalent, he said.

Commenting on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa‘s call for the lifting of travel restrictions on the country, Hishammuddin said the decision was based on security risks and advice from the health ministry.

“What the MOH (Ministry of Health) has decided is not too different from what has been done by other countries out there, I believe the African countries understand that it (travel restriction) is not related to diplomacy or geopolitics, but about health.

“We do not want to jeopardise what we have been doing for one and a half years with irresponsible actions,” he said.

Ramaphosa on Monday urged countries around the world to immediately lift the travel ban to the country, which he described as being “unjustified and unfair”.

Also addressing the risk of reopening the Malaysia-Singapore border via the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) following the spread of the new variant, Hishammuddin said it was being monitored.

“The Quartet meeting took note of the discussions between the two Prime Ministers (Malaysia and Singapore) on the potential of having more destinations (with the VTL implemented), such as Singapore to Penang, Langkawi, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

“I have asked all parties to continue to think and discuss, but we will not make a decision until we know the real effects and impact of this new variant,” he said.

Source: Others/Bernama/ad