YANGON Myanmar’s Yangon International Airport announced on Sunday that the landing of all international commercial passenger flights will not be allowed in all Myanmar airports with effect from March 30 to April 13 to contain COVID-19 spread, according to a notice from the Ministry of Health and Sports and the Department of Civil Aviation.

The Department of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health and Sports advised that all landing permissions previously granted by the Department of Civil Aviation are suspended so as to prevent the spread of the highly infectious COVID-19, the announcement said.

The temporary measures will not affect relief flights, all-cargo flights, medical evacuation flights, and special flights specifically approved by the Department of Civil Aviation.

If any such flight involves night stop, the crew of the said flight may be subject to quarantine requirements by the Ministry of Health and Sports, the announcement said.

On the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced temporary suspension of all types of visas for foreign nationals from all countries with effect from March 29 till April 30.

Myanmar has reported eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country so far.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council

HANOI Vietnam’s Ministry of Health on Sunday announced that four more COVID-19 patients had been discharged from hospital after recovery in the country, which has seen 25 cases cured so far.

Vietnam News Agency on Sunday reported that the four patients are all Vietnamese returning from abroad and were treated in the southern Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam has confirmed 188 COVID-19 cases and reported no death from the disease as of Sunday evening. There are 3,215 suspected cases quarantined and over 75,000 others in quarantine for medical observation in the country, according to the health ministry.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council

SINGAPORE Singapore’s Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 42 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 844.

Among the new cases, 24 are imported ones with recent travel history abroad and 18 are local ones who have no recent travel history abroad. Of the 18 local cases, ten are currently not linked.

Earlier in the day, Singapore confirmed the third COVID-19 death, which involved a 70-year-old Singaporean man.

As of Sunday noon, 212 have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, the ministry said.

A total of 404 still being hospitalized are in stable condition, while 19 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit. Another 206 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are isolated at hospitals and a community isolation facility.

A 42-year-old nurse at a hospital with no travel history to affected countries or regions has been confirmed infected, becoming the second confirmed case from the public healthcare sector.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council

MANILA A small plane bound for Japan crashed on take-off Sunday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, killing all eight people on board, the airport authority said.

“This is to confirm an accident that happened on or about 8:00 p.m. today, March 29, 2020, involving a West Wind 24 aircraft bound for Haneda with eight passengers on board,” Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said in a statement.

The statement said the accident happened at the end of runway 24 while the aircraft was taking off.

“The flight, which was on a medEvac mission to Haneda, Japan, was carrying two passengers and six crew members,” the statement read.

Immediately after the incident, the MIAA fire and rescue team was dispatched to the site to douse the flames with chemical foam.

“Unfortunately, no passenger survived the accident,” the statement added.

The runway has been temporarily closed, as investigators from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of the Civil Aeronautics Authority of the Philippines are now on site to determine the cause of the incident.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN Brunei reported six new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 126.

According to Brunei’s Ministry of Health, nine more cases have recovered, bringing the total recovered cases to 34. Two patients are still in critical condition, requiring ventilator support, while three patients are under intensive care. The rest are in stable condition.

The ministry said that statistics have shown 46 percent of positive cases in Brunei are asymptomatic. For those who show symptoms, the majority of the symptoms are coughing, fever, flu, headache, sore throat, chills, tiredness and body aches.

The ministry also stated that so far, a total of 917 individuals are undergoing quarantine, 1,298 people have completed the quarantine period and 5,656 laboratory tests for COVID-19 have been conducted.

A 53-year-old local man became the first confirmed case for COVID-19 in Brunei on March 9 after returning to the country from Kuala Lumpur, where he possibly contracted the virus during the religious mass gatherings from late February to early March, which were reportedly attended by about 16,000 people.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council

BANGKOK Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported 143 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections to 1,388.

The ministry also reported one more fatality, bringing the death toll to 7.

“The death was of a 68-year old man linked to the Lumpini boxing stadium,” said Dr. Thaveesilp Wissanuyothing, spokesman for Thailand’s Command Centre for the Management of the COVID Situation.

Thaveesilp also said that everyone is at risk of contracting COVID-19, while 18 percent of those infected do not show any symptoms, but remain infectious.

The Health Ministry said there are currently 641 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bangkok and its vicinity, 135 in the central region, 82 in southern border provinces and 530 cases around the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the media that he is in discussion with other officials at the Government House to discuss additional stringent measures as the number of new infections and deaths escalated.

“The increasing number of infections was due to people failing to observe social distancing,” said Prayut.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council

KUALA LUMPUR A total of 34 people have died of the COVID-19 in Malaysia as of Sunday with 150 newly confirmed cases, bringing the total to 2,470, said the Health Ministry.

Health Ministry Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press briefing that among the infections, 388 have been cured and discharged from hospital, while 73 are currently being held in intensive care and 52 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

“Of the 34 cases of COVID-19 related deaths recorded so far, 55.6 percent were aged 60 and above while 67.6 percent had chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease and heart disease,” he said.

Noor Hisham also said Malaysia has expanded its testing capacity to enable more people to be screened for the virus, while also appealing for medical volunteers to come forward to assist in efforts to manage the outbreak.

Source: China – ASEAN Business Council