• Coronavirus: Singapore official hopes for quicker Hong Kong, mainland China reopening; | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3155634/coronavirus-singapore-official-hopes-quicker-hong-kong

    Coronavirus: Singapore official hopes for quicker Hong Kong, mainland China reopening;
    Monetary Authority of Singapore chief Ravi Menon said strict border restrictions may impact business ties between the Asian financial hubs
    Elsewhere, a government council said Malaysia will reopen its borders to international visitors by January 1 at the latest
    Singapore’s central bank chief would like Hong Kong and mainland China to open up quicker and more decisively over the next year as their strict border restrictions may impact business ties between the key Asian financial hubs.“I would hope that China and Hong Kong will be able to open up faster over the next year,” Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon said in a recent interview, responding to a question on whether the city state can gain from the different border situations.
    As Singapore has strong ties with both, “not being able to travel to these places without considerable frictions, does stand in the way of strengthening our business links.”The divergence between Singapore’s strategy of living with the virus and the zero-Covid policy still pursued by mainland China and Hong Kong has become more stark in recent months.
    Singapore and Malaysia agree to quarantine-free vaccinated travel lane
    8 Nov 2021 While Singapore has been establishing several vaccinated travel lanes, including with the US and parts of Europe, mainland China and Hong Kong have stuck to strict border measures, notably lengthy quarantines on arrival.Earlier plans for a travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore had been shelved repeatedly as the cities saw a rise in infections. Eventually, Hong Kong said it will not pursue such a travel lane due to the two cities’ differing Covid-19 strategies.Hong Kong is instead prioritising opening its borders with mainland China first. Menon said that when Singapore opens up, it wants to strengthen links to all geographies, and both mainland China and Hong Kong are important parts of these ties.
    China was the island nation’s largest merchandise trading partner last year, while Hong Kong and Singapore compete as key financial hubs in the region.“I’d very much hope that they would be able to open up more decisively over the course of next year,” said Menon. “That’d be good for Asia. That’d be good for Singapore.”

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#chine#hongkong#malaisie#asie#sante#frontiere#circulation#bulledevoyage#vaccination#politique

  • Universities tell stranded international students to prepare for return to campus in China | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3155587/universities-tell-stranded-overseas-students-prepare-return

    Universities tell stranded international students to prepare for return to campus in China. Duke Kunshan University and New York University Shanghai have both sent out emails saying they could be allowed back in time for next semester. Borders have been closed to most foreigners since March 2020 and no official announcement has been made on reopening to international students
    New York University Shanghai told international students it is confident they will be able to attend campus next semester. Photo: Shutterstock New York University Shanghai told international students it is confident they will be able to attend campus next semester. Two international universities in China have told their overseas students to prepare for a return to campus as early as March, after they were shut out of the country because of the pandemic.While there has been no official announcement on when China’s borders will reopen to foreign students, Duke Kunshan University in Suzhou and New York University Shanghai have both sent out emails saying they could be allowed back on campus in time for the next semester. China’s borders have been closed to most foreigners since March 2020, with special exemptions granted for work or family reasons, as part of its zero-tolerance strategy to Covid-19. That has left many of the country’s half a million international students stranded overseas and unable to attend classes in person. International students have taken to social media to appeal to Chinese authorities to grant them visas so they can return to the country to continue their university studies, including via the Twitter campaign #TakeUsBackToChina. But at present, the only international students receiving China visas are from South Korea, after the two countries agreed in July last year to resume issuing student visas. South Koreans make up about 10 per cent of China’s international students.
    The email from DKU, addressing students and parents, advised students to get vaccinated and prepare their visa applications.“The DKU leadership understands that China is now working on a detailed plan to facilitate international students’ safe entry to the Chinese mainland. Early indications suggest that this procedure, once finalised, will allow students to enter gradually in groups over time to ensure suitable and sufficient quarantine measures,” according to the email, which was posted on Twitter on Monday by a reporter with Duke University’s student newspaper, The Chronicle.
    There was no date for when students might be able to start applying for visas or when they might be able to enter China, but the email said the progress was “encouraging”.
    International students received a similar email from NYU Shanghai on Monday, saying it was confident they would be able to attend campus next semester. Sent by David Pe, the dean of students, it said they should work with their academic advisers in the coming month to register for classes in Shanghai, get vaccinated, and begin looking at direct flights. The email, which was also posted on Twitter, said students would have to complete a 21-day quarantine period before the end of January.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#chine#sante#etudiantinternational#retour#vaccination#quarantaine#economie#politiquemigratoire#circulation#frontiere

  • Coronavirus: Hong Kong may restrict movements of quarantine-exempt aircrew in light of Cathay pilots’ infections | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155516/hong-kong-axe-new-zealand-only-low-risk-covid-19

    Coronavirus: Hong Kong may restrict movements of quarantine-exempt aircrew in light of Cathay pilots’ infections Health officials say they are worried about the infections of the two aircrew staff because they had high viral loads and were highly transmissive. But Cathay Pacific warns any tightening of cargo aircrew quarantine rules may force it to cut flights, not just harming airline but also choking city
    Hong Kong authorities may restrict the movements of local aircrew who are exempt from quarantine on their return from overseas, after two cargo pilots tested positive for Covid-19 and triggered the isolation of 120 pupils linked to the family of one of them.
    The infection of the two pilots, who were among five cases confirmed on Wednesday, sparked fears the city’s negotiations with mainland China on fully reopening the border would be delayed. But the aviation industry also hit back strongly on any potential tightening, with Cathay Pacific warning the move would disrupt the global supply chain.Local health officials expressed concern about the cases.“We are rather worried about the infections of these two aircrew members … as they had high viral load and were highly transmissive,” said Dr Albert Au Ka-wing, principal medical and health officer of the communicable disease branch at the Centre for Health Protection (CHP).Centre controller Dr Edwin Tsui Lok-kin warned the risk of community spread was “relatively high”.“We will work with Transport and Housing Bureau colleagues to further review if there is a possibility to consider further restricting the movements of exempted persons, [such as] aircrew, in Hong Kong,” he said, adding authorities would also look into “locations of isolation or quarantine”.Tsui said the government would try to strike a balance between public health needs and cargo and aviation operations.He conceded that if Hong Kong were to adopt a total closed-loop system in managing people exempted from quarantine, such as having specific transport to take arrivals back to their isolation place, much effort would be involved. Relevant government departments would need to look into the feasibility of such an approach.
    Cathay Pacific said any tightening of cargo aircrew quarantine rules could force it to cut flights, not just harming the airline but also choking the city and affecting global supply chains.“Tightening the travel restrictions for aircrew operating cargo services would significantly impede our ability to continue to mount these important flights,” an airline spokeswoman said.
    Aircrew would need to volunteer for closed-loop operations, flying for three weeks and living in airport hotels throughout, but Cathay already had a shortage of pilots and cabin crew volunteering to fly and spend considerable time in quarantine. Staff have expressed concerns about being separated from families for a long time.The bureau said it “attaches great importance to the concerned cases and will maintain close communications with the CHP and the airline”.Earlier in the day, health experts had called for tighter quarantine arrangements for aircrew to close any remaining avenues of coronavirus transmission in Hong Kong.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#hongkong#chine#frontiere#circulation#sante##quarantaine#restrictionsanitaire

  • Coronavirus: Malaysia and Indonesia plan to open travel lane; | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3155489/four-asiatic-lions-test-positive-covid-19-singapore-night

    Coronavirus: Malaysia and Indonesia plan to open travel lane; Fully-vaccinated would be able to fly between the two nations next year
    Libraries, museums and zoos in New Zealand’s biggest city were also allowed to receive visitors amid a pickup in vaccination rates

    Malaysia and Indonesia plan to allow fully-vaccinated travellers to fly between the two nations, just days after a similar agreement was struck in one of the world’s busiest air routes.The Southeast Asian neighbours may start vaccinated travel lanes from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Jakarta and Bali, according to a joint briefing by Malaysia Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on November 10. The two countries aim to finalise and implement the plan early next year.“Reopening borders safely is important in balancing between the need to open up and revive the economy and take care of the safety and control aspects of public health,” Ismail said in a statement after the briefing. The arrangement will prioritise fully-vaccinated people travelling for official, business, medical or humanitarian reasons, he said.The initiative would mark Indonesia’s first vaccinated travel lane, and Malaysia’s second, as the Southeast Asian neighbours move to ease Covid-induced border curbs. Malaysia is also in discussions with Brunei and Thailand to provide more quarantine-free travel options, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Twitter.Malaysia and Singapore this week agreed to start a vaccinated travel lane from November 29. Malaysia’s rapid vaccination progress has allowed it to lift a ban on interstate trips for fully inoculated citizens, and the country is set to reopen the tourist haven of Langkawi islands to overseas visitors next week under a pilot project.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#malaisie#singapour#frontiere#sante#circulation#vaccination#tourisme#economie#santepublique#business#circulationtherapeutique

  • Covid-19 : les Etats-Unis rouvrent leurs frontières après vingt mois de restrictions
    https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/11/08/les-etats-unis-rouvrent-leurs-frontieres-apres-vingt-mois-de-restrictions_61

    Covid-19 : les Etats-Unis rouvrent leurs frontières après vingt mois de restrictionsPlus d’une trentaine de pays, dont la France, sont concernés par la levée, lundi, du « travel ban » décidé en mars 2020 par Donald Trump. Pour faire face à l’afflux de demandes, les compagnies aériennes ont augmenté le nombre de vols transatlantiques.
    L’heure est enfin arrivée : les Etats-Unis rouvrent, lundi 8 novembre, leurs frontières terrestres et aériennes aux voyageurs vaccinés contre le Covid-19, après vingt mois de restrictions particulièrement mal vécues en Europe ou chez les voisins mexicains et canadiens. La France fait partie des pays concernés par cette levée des restrictions de voyage. Familles séparées, relations d’affaires perturbées, ambitions professionnelles contrariées : le « travel ban » imposé par Donald Trump au mois de mars 2020, et confirmé par son successeur Joe Biden, a été très critiqué et il est devenu emblématique des bouleversements provoqués par la pandémie.
    Pour se prémunir des pays les plus affectés par le Covid-19, Donald Trump avait imposé dès février 2020 des restrictions sur les voyages en provenance de Chine. Puis, le 13 mars, ce fut le tour des pays européens de l’espace Schengen. Ont suivi quelques jours plus tard la Grande-Bretagne et l’Irlande, tandis que les frontières terrestres avec le Mexique et le Canada étaient en très grande partie fermées. Avec tous ces pays, la densité des échanges humains et économiques est immense.
    Beaucoup de familles des deux côtés de l’Atlantique attendent ces retrouvailles avec fébrilité. Il était certes possible d’aller des Etats-Unis vers l’Europe depuis l’été dernier, mais les étrangers installés sur le sol américain et détenteurs de certains visas n’avaient aucune garantie de pouvoir retourner chez eux.Pour faire face à l’afflux de demandes, les compagnies aériennes ont augmenté le nombre de vols transatlantiques et vont utiliser de plus gros avions. Cette levée des restrictions représente une bouffée d’oxygène pour un secteur plongé dans la crise par la pandémie.
    De leur côté, les autorités mexicaines s’attendent à des embouteillages monstres aux postes-frontières. « Il y aura des toilettes portables installées sur les trois ponts, car selon les autorités des Etats-Unis les temps d’attente pourront atteindre quatre heures. Nous demandons aux conducteurs d’être patients », a déclaré César Alberto Tapia le directeur de la sécurité routière de la ville frontière de Ciudad Juarez, reliée à El Paso (Texas) par trois ponts internationaux. Les bureaux de change de Ciudad Juarez ont signalé une pénurie de dollars ces derniers jours.
    Le long de l’immense frontière mexicaine, de nombreuses villes américaines, au Texas ou en Californie, ont souffert économiquement de cette limitation des échanges. « La pandémie a touché tout le monde et nous attendons simplement que les nôtres puissent venir nous rendre visite eux aussi », explique à l’AFP Marcos Rivera, propriétaire d’un magasin de vêtements à El Paso.Plus anecdotiquement, au nord, les riches retraités canadiens vont pouvoir sans crainte, à l’heure des premiers frimas, entreprendre leur transhumance annuelle en voiture vers la Floride et ses douceurs climatiques. Plus d’une trentaine de pays sont concernés par la levée du « travel ban ». Mais l’entrée ne sera pas totalement libre et les autorités américaines entendent surveiller le statut vaccinal des voyageurs, en même temps qu’elles continueront d’exiger des tests Covid négatifs.
    Les autorités sanitaires américaines ont déclaré que tous les vaccins approuvés par l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) seraient acceptés. Il s’agit pour l’instant, selon la procédure d’urgence de l’OMS, des vaccins de : Johnson & Johnson ; AstraZeneca ; Moderna ;Pfizer-BioNTech ; Bharat Biotech ; Sinopharm ; Sinovac.Pour les voyageurs arrivant par les airs, les Etats-Unis demanderont à partir de lundi, en plus d’une preuve de vaccination et d’un test réalisé dans les trois jours avant le départ, la mise en place par les compagnies aériennes d’un système de suivi des contacts.
    Pour la voie terrestre, la levée des restrictions se fera en deux temps. A partir de lundi, pourront traverser la frontière du Canada ou du Mexique les personnes venant pour des raisons jugées non essentielles, par exemple familiales ou touristiques, à condition d’être vaccinées. Les personnes venant pour des motifs impérieux – par exemple les chauffeurs routiers – n’en auront pas besoin. Mais à partir de janvier, l’obligation vaccinale vaudra pour tous les visiteurs franchissant les frontières terrestres, quel que soit leur motif d’entrée.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#etatsunis#canada#mexique#europe#sante#circulation#frontiere#vaccination

  • En images : aux Etats-Unis, les voyageurs de retour, touristes et familles séparées se pressent aux frontières
    https://www.lemonde.fr/international/portfolio/2021/11/08/en-images-aux-etats-unis-les-voyageurs-de-retour-touristes-et-familles-separ

    En images : aux Etats-Unis, les voyageurs de retour, touristes et familles séparées se pressent aux frontières
    portfolio Plus d’une trentaine de pays sont concernés par la levée des restrictions d’entrée pour les voyageurs « non essentiels », qui viennent pour la plupart de pays européens, du Mexique et du Canada.
    C’est la fin d’une séparation de plus d’un an et demi entre les Américains et le reste du monde. Le travel ban (« interdiction de voyager ») imposé aux voyageurs par l’ex-président américain Donald Trump en mars 2020 à cause du coronavirus, a été levé lundi 8 novembre.Plus d’une trentaine de pays sont concernés par la levée des restrictions d’entrée pour les voyageurs « non essentiels », qui viennent pour la plupart de pays européens, du Mexique et du Canada, mais les visiteurs resteront sous surveillance.Désormais, pour ceux qui arrivent par les airs, les Etats-Unis demandent une preuve de vaccination, les résultats d’un test datant de trois jours tout au plus et la mise en place par les compagnies aériennes d’un système de suivi des contacts.Pour les personnes arrivant par voie terrestre, la levée des restrictions se fera en deux temps. Depuis lundi peuvent traverser les frontières les personnes venant pour des raisons familiales ou touristiques, à condition d’être vaccinées ; les personnes venant pour motifs impérieux – comme les chauffeurs routiers – sont dispensées de cette obligation. A partir de janvier, celle-ci vaudra pour tous les visiteurs, quel que soit leur motif d’entrée. Dès la première heure lundi, touristes et familles séparées par le coronavirus se sont pressées dans les aéroports et aux frontières terrestres.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#etatsunis#frontiere#circulation#vaccination#famille#tourisme#sante

  • Coronavirus: Singapore and Malaysia will launch a vaccinated travel lane between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3155220/coronavirus-japan-reopens-business-travel-students-singapore-launches

    Singapore to open vaccinated travel lane with Malaysia on November 29
    Singapore and Malaysia will launch a vaccinated travel lane between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from November 29, allowing vaccinated travellers from each country to cross the border without the need for quarantine, the prime ministers of both nations said in a joint press statement on Monday. The city-state also rolled out quarantine-free entry for vaccinated travellers from Australia and Switzerland on Monday as part of a phased reopening of its borders that has seen quarantine-free travel expanded to nearly a dozen countries, including Germany, Canada, France, Britain and the United States.Singapore has been reporting more than 3,000 daily infections in recent weeks, although most are asymptomatic or mild. Over 80 per cent of Singapore’s 5.45 million population has been vaccinated.Last week, the US advised citizens against travel to Singapore and raised its alert for the city state to its highest risk level. Germany has also classified Singapore as a “high-risk area”.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#malaisie#frontiere#sante#circulation#vaccination

  • Coronavirus: Japan reopens to business travel, students; Australians search for fake vaccination certificates | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3155220/coronavirus-japan-reopens-business-travel-students-singapore-launches

    Coronavirus: Japan reopens to business travel, students;
    Japan on Monday began easing border controls for fully vaccinated visitors excluding tourists, responding to requests from the business community following a rapid decline in infections. The new rules allow business travellers to undergo quarantine for three days, down from the 10-day period formerly applied to vaccinated Japanese nationals and foreigners with residency in Japan when returning from business trips. Those seeking to stay in the country over the long term, including foreign students and workers on so-called technical internship programmes, from Monday morning can again apply for entry – but must undergo at least 10 days’ quarantine upon arrival. All travellers must have been fully inoculated with one of the three vaccines approved by the Japanese government – those developed by Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca. Companies need to submit documentation for business travellers, including planned itineraries and written pledges to follow antivirus measures while in Japan. A health ministry official said it may take a week or two before the first travellers granted shorter quarantine periods arrive in the country. Japan closed its borders to virtually all foreign visitors in January, except for those with special permits and for humanitarian purposes. Daily cases have fallen sharply since September, in a trend generally attributed to vaccinations and extensive mask-wearing. About 73 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated. Japan saw no deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday for the first time in about 15 months, with just 162 infections reported nationwide.
    The easing of border controls is part of the country’s move to gradually resume social and economic activity. The government is experimenting with package tours, at restaurants and sports events before further resumption of daily activities. Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara said Japan is considering allowing foreign tour groups by the end of the year after studying ways to control and monitor their activities.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#japon#sante#frontiere#circulation#vaccination#etudiant#business#economie

  • Coronavirus: what to expect as US reopens to vaccinated foreign travellers | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3155248/coronavirus-what-expect-us-lifts-pandemic-travel

    Coronavirus: what to expect as US reopens to vaccinated foreign travellers
    The United States was expecting a flood of international visitors crossing its borders by air and by land after lifting travel restrictions for much of the world’s population first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of Covid-19.And Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Ed Bastian warned travellers should be prepared for initial long lines.“It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first. I can assure you, there will be lines unfortunately,” Bastian said, adding that “we’ll get it sorted out”.Delta said in the six weeks since the US reopening was announced it has seen a 450 per cent increase in international point-of-sale bookings versus the six weeks prior to the announcement.
    White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter “As we expect high demand when the US lifts its existing air and land travel restrictions Monday, we are taking critical steps to be prepared by providing additional resources”. The Biden administration has held multiple calls with US airlines to prepare for the influx of additional travellers that were to begin arriving at US airports and has warned travellers crossing from Canada and Mexico by land or ferry to be prepared for longer waits starting Monday.
    The rules have barred most non-US citizens who within the prior 14 days have been in 33 countries – the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, China, India, South Africa, Iran, Brazil, Britain and Ireland.
    Trade group US Travel said the countries accounted for 53 per cent of all overseas visitors to the United States in 2019 and border communities were hit hard by the loss of tourists crossing from Mexico and Canada. The group estimates declines in international visitation “resulted in nearly US$300 billion in lost export income” since March 2020.
    US airlines were boosting flights to Europe and other destinations that were impacted by the restrictions. Many international flights were expected to operate close to full or full on Monday, with high passenger volume throughout the following weeks. Airlines will check vaccination documentation for international travellers as they currently do for Covid-19 test results. At land border crossings, US Customs and Border Protection will ask if travellers have been vaccinated and spot check some documentation.Children under 18 are exempt from the new vaccine requirements. Non-tourist travellers from nearly 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10 per cent will also be eligible for exemption.
    New contact tracing rules will take effect requiring airlines to collect information from international air passengers if needed “to follow up with travellers who have been exposed to Covid-19 variants or other pathogens”. A second phase, beginning in early January, will require all visitors to be fully vaccinated to enter the United States by land, no matter the reason for their trip. US health authorities have said all vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization would be accepted for entry by air.At the moment, this includes the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Covaxin, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.The United States has not yet commented on the increase in Covid-19 cases in Europe.The WHO has expressed “grave concern” over the rising pace of infections in Europe, warning that the current trajectory could mean “another half a million Covid-19 deaths” by February. But speaking for the United States, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday on ABC that he’s “cautiously optimistic about where we are”, while adding: “We can’t take our foot off the accelerator until we’re at the finish line”.

    #Covid-19#migration#migrant#etatsunis#sante#vaccination#frontiere#circulation#ttravailleurmigrant

  • L’OMS autorise un huitième vaccin, développé en Inde, contre le Covid-19
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/11/03/l-oms-autorise-un-huitieme-vaccin-developpe-en-inde-contre-le-covid-19_61008

    L’OMS autorise un huitième vaccin, développé en Inde, contre le Covid-19
    C’est le premier vaccin anti-Covid-19 entièrement développé en Inde et le huitième à recevoir le précieux sésame. L’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a accordé, mercredi 3 novembre, l’homologation d’urgence au Covaxin. Ce vaccin – efficace à 78 % – est recommandé pour tous les groupes d’âge à partir de 18 ans.Il requiert deux doses à quatre semaines d’intervalle, mais se révèle « particulièrement bien adapté aux pays à revenu faible et moyen en raison de la facilité avec laquelle il peut être stocké », selon un communiqué de l’OMS. C’est le premier vaccin entièrement développé et fabriqué en Inde à recevoir l’homologation de l’organisation onusienne.Il rejoint les vaccins anti-Covid-19 de Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, AstraZeneca (l’OMS compte deux vaccins AZ, dont l’un fabriqué en Inde), Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm et Sinovac sur la liste. Le vaccin Covaxin, ou BBV152, est un vaccin à virus inactivé, une technologie relativement classique mais comportant un nouvel adjuvant le rendant plus efficace, selon le fabriquant. C’est cet adjuvant qui le distingue des deux autres vaccins à virus inactivé déjà autorisés par l’OMS, ceux des laboratoires chinois Sinovac et Sinopharm.Le stockage est plus simple que pour les vaccins à ARN messager comme ceux de Moderna et Pfizer-BioNtech, qui, pour s’être révélés les plus efficaces parmi tous les sérums autorisés jusqu’à présent, ont néanmoins besoin d’être transportés et stockés à ultra-basse température.
    L’homologation par l’OMS permet de faciliter la reconnaissance internationale du vaccin, surtout aux agences onusiennes et au système Covax – mis en place pour faciliter l’accès à l’immunisation au Covid-19 dans les pays les plus démunis –, et d’en faire usage. « L’homologation par l’OMS est un pas significatif vers un accès mondial au Covaxin qui est sûr, efficace et déjà largement utilisé en Inde », a souligné le docteur Krishna Ella, PDG de Bharat Biotech. Le ministre des affaires étrangères indien, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, s’est lui aussi réjouit dans un tweet. Il estime que l’homologation « va faciliter les voyages pour de nombreux citoyens indiens et il contribue à l’équité vaccinale ». L’iniquité vaccinale – les pays les plus riches se sont réservé l’essentiel des doses de vaccin disponibles – est un problème dénoncé sans relâche par l’OMS, comme par les pays qui en sont victimes. L’organisation a souligné récemment que, « jusqu’à présent, seuls 0,4 % des tests et 0,5 % des vaccins injectés dans le monde ont été utilisés dans les pays à faibles revenus, malgré le fait que ces pays comptent pour 9 % de la population mondiale ». Selon Bharat Biotech, la capacité de production était de 50 à 55 millions de doses par mois en octobre et l’entreprise compte atteindre une capacité de production annuelle d’un milliard de doses à la fin de 2021. Des transferts de technologie « sont également en cours vers des entreprises en Inde, aux Etats-Unis et d’autres pays », précise Bharat Biotech.

    #Covid-19#migration#migrant#inde#sante#vaccin#OMS#equite#COVAX#circulationtherapeutique#circulation#frontiere

  • Phuket Sandbox shines the way for Thai tourism revival - Asia Times
    https://asiatimes.com/2021/10/phuket-sandbox-shines-the-way-for-thai-tourism-revival

    Phuket Sandbox shines the way for Thai tourism revival
    Quarantine island experiment set to be replicated as kingdom takes a daring punt on reopening its decimated tourism industry
    by Peter Janssen October 27, 2021
    PHUKET – The Phuket Sandbox – Thailand’s pilot run for reopening the country’s crucial tourism sector that accounted for about 20% of gross domestic product (GDP) before Covid-19 – has so far been disappointing in terms of numbers but is being hailed as a success in other respects.
    The Phuket Sandbox – a pun on Fintech terminology for a safe haven for experimenting with new technologies – was launched on July 1 with a target of attracting at least 100,000 foreign tourists in its first three months.
    Actual arrivals were an underwhelming 42,000, generating about 3 billion baht (US$90.8 million) in tourist spending. That’s obviously a far cry from the 14.5 million foreign and domestic tourists who visited the island resort in all of 2019, generating 442 billion baht ($13.4 billion) in revenue.
    Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha recently announced that Bangkok and other leading tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Chiang Mai will reopen to fully vaccinated foreign tourists from 46 designated “low-risk” countries, lifting the kingdom’s previous onerous 7-14 day quarantine requirements.Prayut originally vowed to reopen the country by mid-October but was forced to delay until November 1 in the face of still alarming new infection rates, which are still hovering around 10,000 per day in a country of 69 million, a tardy vaccination rollout and questions about the efficacy of some of the vaccines used, especially the China-made Sinovac.Those issues will all persist after the reopening and could lead to fresh outbreaks and dire consequences for the government. For Bangkok, Phuket has proven an important test run. Local Phuket government authorities have been meeting with the Bangkok-based National Security Council three times a week to hash out problems they have confronted in implementing the Sandbox and find solutions, said Piyapong.
    “We try to pass on the feedback from the tourists to the government officials,” Piyapong said. Tourists have uniformly complained about the complexities involved with gaining entry to the Sandbox, particularly the difficulties of complying with myriad requirements to secure a Certificate of Entry (COE), the document that was previously required.As of November 1, the COE requirement will be canceled and replaced with a digital Thailand Pass, which drops certain demands such as pre-payment for two or three Covid-19 swab tests, while lowering the minimum Covid medical insurance requirement from US$100,000 to US$50,000.But an initial Covid test will still be required at the airport, and an installation of a government mobile phone application known as Rao Chana that helps keep track of newcomers. These procedures have meant tourists arriving at Phuket usually spend two hours at the airport, which would become a lot longer if arrivals were in the thousands.The Sandbox concept was originally a proposal from Phuket’s private sector represented by the Phuket Tourism Association, Phuket Hotels Association, Phuket Travel Agents Association in collaboration with the local Phuket government and with support from Bangkok’s powers-that-be.“It is a model that we proposed ourselves, as opposed to coming from the government,” said Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourism Association.But while the Sandbox concept was a private sector initiative, many of the conditions came at the behest of Bangkok-based authorities, specifically the “doctor-ocracy” that has been determining much of Thailand’s government policy since the Covid-19 pandemic first struck in early 2020.Some of the initial requirements were eased as the Sandbox progressed. For instance, on October 1 the requirement that tourists spend 14 days quarantined on the island was reduced to seven. On October 15, the island was re-opened to fully vaccinated domestic visitors and bars were allowed to serve booze and stay open till 10 pm.To the government’s credit, it has learned something from the Sandbox.“We learned that the Sandbox would have attracted more people with fewer complications,” Bhummikitti said. “We have made suggestions to the government and the government has taken our advice, and it will benefit the whole country.” One lesson the pandemic has taught governments in general is that the virus is not predictable. Singapore, which recently reopened its borders to vaccinated tourists from ten select countries, is now experiencing a resurgence in Covid cases that is likely to overshadow any benefits from a trickle of arrivals.Thailand continues to record about 10,000 new Covid cases daily, with the total caseload since the virus was first detected in March 2020 now reaching 1,859,157 with 1,740,316 recoveries and 18,799 deaths. A recently detected “Delta plus” variant has raised new concerns and fresh questions about the wisdom of reopening to the world when so few Thais have been inoculated.The government has been relatively slow in rolling out vaccinations, with only 38% of the population fully vaccinated and 55% receiving one dose as of late October. Nearby Malaysia is 75% fully vaccinated Singapore has reached 82%.Phuket has benefitted from the Sandbox in terms of being prioritized in the national vaccine rollout.“Phuket has the highest prevalence of vaccinations in Thailand, with 82% of the population (547,584) having received the first dose, and 71% two doses and 46% a booster too,” Kobsak Kookiatkul, Phuket’s health chief, told a recent seminar. “This makes foreigners feel confident.”Unfortunately for the Sandbox, the Delta variant started to spread on the island in June and July, coinciding with the Sandbox’s opening on July 1. The news no doubt discouraged some tourists from booking trips to the resort island. Since April, Phuket has recorded 14,443 cases and 101 deaths, but the incidence has been on a downward trend since October, as is the situation nationwide.More importantly, there have been no reported cases of foreign tourists spreading the virus to the local population, according to Kobsak. Of the 53,120 foreign tourists who arrived between July 1 and October 21, some 171 tested positive for Covid-19. When a tourist tests positive, they end up spending their vacation in a local hospital for 10-14 days.But given the ongoing resurgence of the pandemic in various countries such as Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and even highly vaccinated Singapore, Phuket’s tourism industry is only cautiously optimistic about the near future. That would mean about 1 million tourists, both foreign and domestic, still well short of the 4 million arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2019.Phuket’s tourism prospects will arguably improve with the reopening of other destinations in Thailand such as Bangkok, and Phuket’s neighboring provinces Krabi, Phang Nga and Samui, which provide tourists with more travel options in the kingdom.In recent weeks, Malaysia has announced plans to open Langkawi resort island to vaccinated foreign tourists in mid-November (the island was opened to domestic tourists last month), Indonesia has opened up Bali to vaccinated tourists from 19 countries (but they must spend the first five days quarantined in a hotel) and Vietnam has indicated it will open the island of Phu Quoc, off the southern coast, in late November.“I believe the Phuket Sandbox was a wake-up call for governments in our region to also launch similar projects in their own backyards,” said Luzi Matzig, chairman of Asian Trails, a travel agency specializing in the European market.But no one is expecting a dramatic recovery this year or even next. “It will take many months to restart tourist arrivals in the different destinations and if we can achieve 50% of the pre-Covid numbers during 2022 this will already be a positive result,” Matzig said.The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects tourism revenues to reach about 50% of pre-Covid levels in 2022, with at least 13 million foreign tourists and 122 million domestic tourists spending 620 billion baht ($19 billion) and 680 billion baht ($20.5 billion), respectively, according to a recent Bualuang Securities report.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#thailande#tourisme#vaccination#economie#frontiere#circulation

  • Coronavirus: Thailand ends quarantine for vaccinated visitors from China, US, Singapore, others | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3154374/coronavirus-thailand-ends-quarantine-vaccinated-visitors-china-us

    Coronavirus: Thailand ends quarantine for vaccinated visitors from China, US, Singapore, others From Monday, fully-inoculated travellers will be able to freely tour Thai beaches, temples and tropical islands after testing negative for Covid-19 on arrival. Elsewhere, Singapore is boosting the number of ICU beds, while hundreds of workers at seafood firms in south Vietnam have tested positive for Covid-19
    Thailand is ending quarantine for vaccinated visitors from more than 60 countries including China, India, Japan, Singapore and the US, in the biggest reopening gamble in Asia and one that could mark a turning point for the revival of mass tourism during the pandemic. From Monday, fully-vaccinated travellers will be able to freely tour Thailand’s sandy beaches, temples and tropical islands after testing negative for Covid-19 on arrival.
    Inoculated visitors from countries not on the list can travel to Bangkok and 16 other regions, but they will be confined to their initial destination for the first seven days before being allowed to travel elsewhere.
    It is the biggest step Thailand has taken to welcome back a slice of the nearly 40 million visitors it hosted the year before the pandemic, and is billed as a “fight to win foreign tourists” as countries from Australia to the UK also loosen Covid-19 curbs.A successful Thai experiment could help salvage its battered economy and serve as a model for countries wary of a virus resurgence from reopenings.To boost the confidence of tourists and the public, Thailand is linking the reopening to a higher vaccination rate, which “is a measured approach that has a lot of logic to it”, according to Amar Lalvani, chairman of US boutique hotel operator Standard International.
    Meanwhile in Australia, the government will from November 21 allow fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore to travel to the country without quarantine, starting with New South Wales and Victoria, The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported on Sunday.It will be up to the other Australian states and territories to decide if they similarly want to accept vaccinated travellers without the need for 14 days of hotel quarantine, according to the report.The decision follows an announcement by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) earlier this week on extending the vaccinated travel lane to Australia and Switzerland, which will allow vaccinated travellers from both countries to enter Singapore without the need for quarantine from November 8.
    Singapore Transport Minister S Iswaran called it a “significant move”.
    “Families and loved ones can reunite, students can resume their studies, and businesspeople and tourists can once again travel,” Iswaran said in a Facebook post on Sunday.Singapore is increasing the number of hospital beds in intensive care units as serious Covid-19 infections in the current outbreak remain at an elevated level.Authorities will set up 280 ICU beds this week, up from about 200 now, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post on Sunday. About 70 per cent of Singapore’s ICU beds are occupied, he said.“Our hospital capacity is dynamic – we step them up as the number of cases that require acute or ICU care goes up, and vice versa,” Ong said. “But with each increase, health care workers will come under even greater strain. There is a human limit.” Singapore is trying to ease the strain on the health care system by maintaining domestic restrictions at least until late November, including limiting social gatherings to two people.Janil Puthucheary, senior minister of state at the health ministry, will give an update in Parliament on Monday on the ICU situation and hospital capacity. He will also explain the possible course of action and the trade-offs Singapore is facing, Ong said.Singapore has one of the highest inoculation rates in the world, allowing its government to open borders up with vaccinated travel lanes including to parts of Europe, Australia, Canada and the US.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#thailande#australie#singapour#sante#vaccination#frontiere#circulation#tourisme#retour

  • Covid-19 : Israël ouvre ses frontières aux touristes non accompagnés
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/11/01/australie-thailande-coree-du-sud-des-pays-assouplissent-les-restrictions-de-

    Israël ouvre ses frontières aux touristes non accompagnés
    Pour la première fois depuis le début de la pandémie due au coronavirus, Israël a commencé, lundi, à accueillir les touristes non accompagnés d’un groupe de voyage organisé. Ces derniers avaient déjà été autorisés à venir sur le sol israélien en septembre.Les voyageurs non accompagnés doivent prouver qu’ils ont été vaccinés, qu’ils ont reçu une injection de rappel ou qu’ils ont été guéris du Covid-19 au cours des six derniers mois. Les autorités reconnaissent la plupart des vaccins, mais les personnes vaccinées avec le Spoutnik V russe doivent subir un test sérologique à leur arrivée. Les voyageurs doivent également présenter un test négatif avant d’embarquer sur leur vol et en subir un autre à l’arrivée. Israël avait prévu de rouvrir ses portes aux touristes au printemps dernier, mais a reporté cette décision en raison d’un pic de cas dû au variant Delta hautement contagieux. Depuis, Israël a lancé une campagne de rappel au cours de laquelle près de la moitié de la population a reçu une troisième dose de vaccin, ce qui a permis de faire baisser le nombre de cas.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#israel#vaccination#frontiere#circulation#test#variant#tourisme

  • Covid-19 : La Thaïlande accueille ses premiers touristes vaccinés sans quarantaine
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/11/01/australie-thailande-coree-du-sud-des-pays-assouplissent-les-restrictions-de-

    La Thaïlande accueille ses premiers touristes vaccinés sans quarantaine
    Des touristes se prélassent près de la piscine d’un hôtel sur l’île
    Depuis ce lundi, le gouvernement thaïlandais autorise les voyageurs vaccinés de plus de 60 pays à séjourner en Thaïlande sans effectuer de quarantaine. Les premiers ont atterri ce matin à Bangkok et sur l’île de Phuket, un espoir de renaissance pour l’industrie touristique thaïlandaise exsangue après un an et demi de verrouillage.La pandémie de Covid-19 a frappé de plein fouet l’économie du royaume, qui dépend beaucoup du tourisme et a enregistré l’an dernier ses pires résultats depuis la crise financière asiatique de 1997, avec une baisse de plus de 80 % des arrivées de visiteurs internationaux.« La chose la plus importante à laquelle le gouvernement et moi-même pensons en ce moment est de faire en sorte que les moyens de subsistance des gens reviennent à la normale », a déclaré vendredi le premier ministre, Prayut Chan-o-cha. Le tourisme représente près d’un cinquième de l’économie, et l’impact de la pandémie s’est répercuté sur divers secteurs, de la restauration aux transports.
    Le retour des touristes sera progressif, et les autorités tablent sur 10 millions à 15 millions de visiteurs l’année prochaine, encore loin du record de 2019, de près de 40 millions. Les recettes attendues pour 2022 sont d’environ 30 milliards de dollars. « En 2023, nous pensons qu’elles seront proches du chiffre de l’année 2019 », a déclaré le ministre du Tourisme, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn.Mais l’industrie se veut moins optimiste, dans la mesure où les touristes chinois, qui constituent le principal marché pour la Thaïlande, sont toujours soumis à une quarantaine stricte à leur retour chez eux et ne devraient pas venir en masse avant de nombreux mois. De plus, le royaume enregistre encore environ 10 000 cas de Covid-19 par jour, et seulement 40 % environ de la population a reçu deux doses de vaccin. A Bangkok, ce taux est de 80 %.En Uruguay, le choix a également été fait d’ouvrir les frontières uniquement aux étrangers vaccinés.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#thailande#sante#frontiere#circulation#tourisme#economie#vaccination#chine#quarantaine

  • Covid-19 : L’Australie rouvre ses frontières à ses ressortissants vaccinés
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/11/01/australie-thailande-coree-du-sud-des-pays-assouplissent-les-restrictions-de-

    L’Australie rouvre ses frontières à ses ressortissants vaccinés
    L’Australie a rouvert ses frontières lundi, près de six cents jours après leur fermeture. Le 20 mars 2020, l’immense île-continent a instauré l’une des fermetures des frontières les plus strictes au monde afin de se protéger de la pandémie de Covid-19.Des dizaines de milliers d’Australiens vivant à l’étranger n’ont pas pu rentrer dans leur pays natal pendant dix-neuf mois. Les vols étaient rares, et les ressortissants autorisés à rentrer devaient effectuer une coûteuse quarantaine de quatorze jours à l’hôtel. Les deux plus grandes villes du pays, Sydney et Melbourne, ont décidé d’abandonner ces mesures, et les Australiens entièrement vaccinés peuvent désormais voyager sans quarantaine. Certains Etats australiens, pour lesquels le taux de vaccination demeure faible, resteront quasi fermés. Une quarantaine obligatoire de quatorze jours restera en vigueur.Plus d’un million de résidents étrangers demeurent bloqués en Australie, dans l’impossibilité de rentrer pour retrouver leurs amis ou leurs familles, les mesures d’assouplissement s’appliquant principalement aux citoyens australiens.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#australie#sante#retour#vaccination#frontiere#circulation#quarantaine

  • Liu Shifu : « Manifeste de 1914 : objectifs et méthodes de l’anarcho-communisme »
    https://www.partage-noir.fr/liu-shifu-manifeste-de-1914-objectifs-et-methodes-de-l-anarcho


    Liu Shifu (1884-1915) est un des membres importants de la première génération d’anarchistes chinois, souvent considéré comme son « père fondateur » ou même « l’âme » du mouvement (Edward Krebs). Il écrit de nombreux textes et manifestes, prône l’action directe, joue un rôle majeur dans l’organisation du mouvement anarcho-syndical de Canton et formule les bases de l’anarcho-communisme, influencé par #Kropotkine et #Proudhon. Il fut notamment emprisonné pour tentative d’assassinat, puis, en 1914, autour de ce manifeste et de ses principes, il fonda sa propre société, la société des camarades anarcho-communistes. Groupe de lectures du CIRA
    #Anarchisme #Chine #CIRA #Liu_Shifu

  • Singapore to expand its quarantine-free travel - Asia Times
    https://asiatimes.com/2021/10/singapore-to-expand-its-quarantine-free-travel

    Singapore to expand its quarantine-free travel
    Fully vaccinated travelers will have to test negative for the virus before they depart and when they arrive. Singapore on Tuesday began quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated passengers from eight countries, part of a plan to ease restrictions as the business hub gears up to live with the coronavirus.
    The latest easing expanded a program that started with vaccinated air travel lanes with Germany and Brunei last month and is now open to passengers from the United States, Canada, Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Singapore Airlines said flights from Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles and New York were scheduled to arrive Tuesday under the program.“We have seen very strong demand for our Vaccinated Travel Lane flights,” the national airline said.“This is across all cabin classes, as well as various travel segments including leisure, families and business travel.”
    Passengers arriving as part of this scheme – which will include South Korea from November 15 – will not have to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated and test negative for the virus before they depart and when they arrive.To enable families to travel, Singapore has allowed entry to unvaccinated children aged 12 years and under if they are accompanied by someone flying under the scheme. Raj Samuel, a restaurant manager in the almost deserted tourist district, said he was “optimistic” about the potential for more business.The city-state initially fought the Covid-19 pandemic by shutting borders, imposing lockdowns of varying intensity and aggressive contact tracing. But with more than 80% of the population fully vaccinated, authorities are keen to revive the economy.“Singapore cannot stay locked down and closed off indefinitely,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said earlier this month when he announced a raft of measures under the “Living with Covid-19” strategy. The city-state is home to the regional offices of thousands of multi-national corporations, which rely on Singapore’s status as a business and aviation hub for their operations. Vaccinated travel is a “very significant step forward in re-establishing Singapore’s role as one of the Asia-Pacific’s leading international hubs for finance, regional headquartering and commercial aviation,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit.He added that the travel lanes – notably with the UK, the US, France and Germany – were particularly important as many international firms run large operations from the city’s financial center.
    The scheme may also provide a shot in the arm for the pandemic-hammered airline and tourism industries, analysts said. Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for about 5% of Singapore’s GDP, said Song Seng Wun, a regional economist with CIMB Private Banking.
    Statistics from the Singapore tourism board showed international visitor arrivals plunging to less than 2.8 million last year from a record 19.1 million in 2019.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#hongkong#sante#circulation#frontiere#tourisme#business#economie#hubb#asie#pacifique

  • Coronavirus: Hong Kong adds 1,500 quarantine rooms ahead of Christmas holidays as 5 more hotels join approved list | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152831/hong-kong-add-estimated-2000-quarantine-hotel

    Coronavirus: Hong Kong adds 1,500 quarantine rooms ahead of Christmas holidays as 5 more hotels join approved list

    Hong Kong officials have added five hotels to the government’s approved list of coronavirus quarantine facilities, ramping up room supply by 15 per cent ahead of an expected rush of inbound travellers over the Christmas holiday season.The administration revealed on Tuesday that a total of 40 designated quarantine hotels would provide about 11,500 rooms between December 1 and February 28, a period also covering Lunar New Year.
    Hong Kong’s expansion of the quarantine facilities from the current level of 10,000 rooms emerged as the city confirmed two new coronavirus cases carrying the L452R mutant strain on Tuesday – both imported – taking the overall tally of infections to 12,301,­ with 213 related deaths.The two cases ­involved a 51-year-old man from the United Kingdom and a three-year-old from Mongolia. Fewer than 10 preliminary-positive infections were recorded. The 36 hotels currently approved to serve as quarantine hotels – a list that is updated every three months – were booked at 84 per cent capacity from September to November, according to the Food and Health Bureau. The net increase in the number of designated hotels for the coming round is four after it was previously announced that Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers in Tsim Sha Tsui would stop running quarantine services on November 9. Michael Li Hon-shing, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners, earlier on Tuesday predicted that the government would introduce another 2,000 quarantine rooms, as he said the industry was readying for a busy time in the coming months. He noted that while the government had typically chosen mid-range and budget hotels priced between HK$600 (US$77) and HK$800 per night, adding some five-star accommodation to the mix could help meet demand among returning travellers for a higher level of service and more comfortable rooms.“I think the demand for that is not that huge, but it must have its own market,” he said. “I believe the market for rooms priced at about HK$1,000 is larger.”Last month, the Hong Kong government sent letters to about 2,000 hotels and guesthouses holding relevant licences to encourage them to join the designated hotel scheme in a bid to meet customer demand, driven by residents returning to their home city.Li said hotels considering joining the scheme had to weigh their own strategies, including whether they preferred to focus on longer-term tenants or the burgeoning “staycation” market.“They may worry that future customers could be concerned that they had been a quarantine hotel before … But they may also hope to boost the occupancy rate by becoming a quarantine facility. It’s up to the hotels’ business strategy,” he said.
    Hong Kong has imposed one of the world’s strictest policies for inbound travellers, requiring those from countries deemed high-risk – a list that includes Britain, the United States and Thailand – to complete up to three weeks of compulsory hotel quarantine.The limited supply of government-approved hotels had left thousands of travellers to the city scrambling to book rooms and rearrange flights in recent months. Meanwhile, foreign domestic helpers, who mainly come to the city from the Philippines or Indonesia, have just two options – the 409-room Silka Hotel Tsuen Wan or the government-run Penny’s Bay quarantine facility, which has 1,000 slots.
    Every room at both properties was snapped up within minutes of becoming available, as employers and employment agencies rushed to reserve slots for their workers.According to government figures, the city had a total of 315 licensed hotel properties supplying 87,318 rooms as of August.

    #Covid-19#migration#migrant#hongkong#sante#vaccination#quarantaine#hotel#frontiere#circulation

  • Coronavirus: Singapore expands no-quarantine scheme for vaccinated travellers despite reporting record cases | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3152808/coronavirus-singapore-expands-no-quarantine-scheme

    Coronavirus: Singapore expands no-quarantine scheme for vaccinated travellers despite reporting record cases
    Singapore on Tuesday began quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated passengers from eight countries, part of a plan to ease restrictions as the business hub gears up to live with the coronavirus.This came as its health ministry reported 3,994 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, while it recorded seven new deaths from the disease.The latest easing expanded a programme that began with vaccinated air travel lanes with Germany and Brunei last month, and is now open to passengers from the United States, Canada, Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.Singapore Airlines said flights under the scheme were expected to depart from Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles and New York on Tuesday.“We have seen very strong demand for our Vaccinated Travel Lane flights,” it said. “This is across all cabin classes, as well as various travel segments including leisure, families, and business travel.”Passengers arriving as part of this scheme – which will include South Korea from November 15 – will not have to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated and test negative for the virus before they depart and when they arrive.To enable families to travel, Singapore has allowed entry to unvaccinated children aged 12 years and under if they are accompanied by someone flying under the scheme.In the almost deserted tourist district, restaurant manager Raj Samuel said he was optimistic about the potential for more business.“I think it’s an excellent move by the country to help open up the economy … especially for the food and beverage sector,” the 36-year-old said.Kylie Jens, a 29-year-old lawyer from New Zealand based in Singapore, said she was planning to go to Britain for Christmas under the scheme.“Singapore is just such a small island, it’s nice to have a chance to get away and know that that’s possible pretty soon,” she said.
    The city state initially fought the Covid-19 pandemic by shutting borders, imposing lockdowns of varying intensity and aggressive contact tracing. But with more than 80 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, authorities are keen to revive the economy. “Singapore cannot stay locked down and closed off indefinitely,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said earlier this month when he announced a raft of measures under the “Living with Covid-19” strategy.“The Delta variant is highly infectious, and has spread all over the world. Even with the whole population vaccinated, we still will not be able to stamp it out,” he said. “Almost every country has accepted this reality.”The regional offices of thousands of multinational corporations are in Singapore, which rely on its status as a business and aviation hub for their operations.“We must continue to reopen our borders safely,” Lee said. “Companies and investors need to carry out regional and global business from Singapore. People working for them need to travel to earn a living.”
    Vaccinated travel is a “very significant step forward in re-establishing Singapore’s role as one of the Asia-Pacific’s leading international hubs for finance, regional headquartering and commercial aviation,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit.The scheme may also provide a shot in the arm for the pandemic-hammered airline and tourism industries, analysts said. Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for about 5 per cent of Singapore’s GDP, said Song Seng Wun, a regional economist with CIMB Private Banking. “We used to get 1.6 million tourists every month, our airport used to handle over a thousand flights a day pre-pandemic. Now it is just over 300 flights a day,” he said. Statistics from the Singapore tourism board showed international visitor arrivals plunging to less than 2.8 million last year from a record 19.1 million in 2019. Allowing in travellers without quarantine “instils a bit of fear” in some people, said Singaporean Simon Chow, 22, but added that people need to live with the virus. “At the end of the day, we’re a country that needs travel.”

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#hongkong#sante#frontiere#circulation#vaccination#quarantaine#tourisme#economie#asie#pacifique

  • La Thaïlande mise sur le « bac à sable » de Phuket pour faire revenir les touristes
    https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2021/10/18/la-thailande-mise-sur-le-bac-a-sable-de-phuket-pour-faire-revenir-les-touris

    La Thaïlande mise sur le « bac à sable » de Phuket pour faire revenir les touristes. Les visiteurs vaccinés contre le Covid-19 doivent rester dans l’île au moins sept jours mais sont libres de leurs activités, une formule que le gouvernement promet encore d’alléger pour la haute saison de l’hiver 2021-2022.

    Cela s’appelle le « Phuket Sandbox », ou « bac à sable » de Phuket : la possibilité pour les personnes vaccinées venant de l’étranger de profiter des plages de la célèbre île, située dans l’ouest du pays, dans la mer d’Andaman, et des restaurants, tout en restant dans un hôtel désigné et payé d’avance, mais sans la quarantaine stricte imposée dans le reste du pays.Lancé le 1er juillet, après plusieurs mois de préparation pour vacciner en priorité la population de l’île, le « Sandbox » a pour l’instant fait ses preuves au niveau sanitaire, au point que le gouvernement thaïlandais a réduit depuis le 1er octobre à sept jours au lieu de quatorze le temps de séjour obligatoire sur Phuket avant de voyager sur le continent. Il a aussi commencé à simplifier les procédures, ouvert l’île aux Thaïlandais du continent vaccinés et à toutes les nationalités d’étrangers.
    Pressé de positionner la Thaïlande pour la haute saison touristique hivernale, le premier ministre thaïlandais, l’ex-général putschiste Prayuth Chan-o-cha, a également proposé une date, le 1er novembre, pour l’ouverture du reste du pays à des vaccinés en provenance de dix pays à faible risque. « Je sais que cette décision comporte un certain risque. Il est presque certain que nous verrons une augmentation temporaire des cas graves lorsque nous assouplirons ces restrictions », a-t-il déclaré, le 11 octobre.L’île de Phuket, un ergot de 543 kilomètres carrés rattaché par un pont à la partie thaïlandaise de la péninsule de Malacca, fait figure d’exception en Thaïlande : 77 % de ses 547 000 habitants ont reçu deux doses, et 44 % trois doses.L’ensemble du pays, lui, n’affiche qu’un taux de 36 % de vaccinés, une contre-performance qui continue de nourrir une vague de critiques contre les choix malheureux du chef du gouvernement de privilégier le vaccin chinois Sinovac, et un seul laboratoire thaïlandais, possédé par le roi, pour la production d’AstraZeneca. A Phuket comme dans le reste du pays, les vaccins utilisés ne sont donc pas des plus performants, même si les autorités sanitaires autorisent désormais des cocktails avec Pfizer, en particulier pour la troisième dose.Pourtant, le variant Delta, qui a fait flamber l’épidémie en Thaïlande à partir d’avril 2021 – le nombre de morts est passé depuis d’une centaine à 18 205 –, semble avoir épargné Phuket : plusieurs clusters apparus, notamment parmi des travailleurs migrants birmans, ont été contenus par des confinements stricts – et le moins de publicité possible. Le chiffre des contaminations avoisine les 160 nouveaux cas par jour dans l’île, dont 154 participants du « Sandbox » depuis le 1er juillet (sur 42 000), contre toujours 10 000 nouveaux cas et 80 décès en moyenne chaque jour pour l’ensemble du pays.
    Concrètement, les participants du « Phuket Sandbox » doivent se faire tester à l’arrivée et attendre dans leur chambre d’hôtel les résultats. Ils doivent également télécharger une application qui les piste, dont le QR code est scanné matin et soir par le personnel de l’hôtel. Si, en cette période de faible affluence et de mousson, les procédures sont très efficaces, tout se complique pour ceux qui sont testés positifs à leur arrivée. Thae, une Thaïlandaise d’une cinquantaine d’années, désignée cas contact quand son mari néerlandais a été testé positif à l’atterrissage, a ainsi été conduite dans un hôtel de quarantaine qui coûte cinq fois plus cher que l’hôtel du « Sandbox ».Après son refus, elle a été placée en quarantaine « étatique », gratuite, mais dans une chambre sans air conditionné, ni linge. Hospitalisé, son mari a ensuite été transféré dans un « hospitel » quand il n’a plus eu de symptômes : « Le problème est que les assurances ne considèrent pas que c’est un hôpital. Si ça se passe mal, le “Sandbox” peut devenir un parcours d’obstacles », souligne le Néerlandais.
    Phuket, c’est certain, tire la langue : 90 % des hôtels sont encore fermés, même si les plus grands d’entre eux sont les premiers à bénéficier du « Sandbox », certes à un tarif bien moindre que ceux pratiqués habituellement.A proximité des plages, des rues entières sont vides – ici un bar aux tables rouillées, là l’immense carcasse rose du « Christin Massage ». De vieux condominiums sans lumière disparaissent sous le lierre. Des chantiers sont à l’arrêt. Des 7-Eleven, les chaînes de supérettes ouvertes 24 heures sur 24, des McDonald’s ou des Starbucks sont cadenassés. Quelques enclaves animées rompent sagement le calme nocturne depuis l’autorisation des ventes d’alcool dans les restaurants le 1er octobre jusqu’à 22 heures, comme « Hugo Hub », un terrain de bord de mer entre deux restaurants à Bang Tao Beach.Un Sud-Africain qui convoyait des yachts à travers le monde, et a rejoint son épouse thaïlandaise à Phuket juste avant la fermeture du pays en mars 2020, y a fait venir des food trucks et un DJ. « On a commencé avec rien, donc on ne prend pas de risques », reconnaît-il. Les villages de l’intérieur et de l’est, qui regroupent la population autochtone, semblent moins affectés par la pandémie, mais la jeunesse s’employait en priorité dans l’industrie du tourisme.Les investisseurs ou les gérants venus du continent ou de l’étranger ont souvent jeté l’éponge, dans l’attente de jours meilleurs. La ruée vers l’or touristique attirait depuis des décennies une multitude de petites gens venus de tout le pays qui vivaient de petits boulots rémunérateurs à la haute saison. Ce prolétariat n’a aujourd’hui pas d’autre recours que la survie, et les distributions de nourriture organisées par des bénévoles. Tous les jours, à Patong, la grande plage de l’ouest de l’île, la petite église protestante des « nouveaux commencements » du pasteur malaisien Aland et de sa femme thaïlandaise Sunee distribue une centaine de repas. Un taxi moto est là pour prendre trois barquettes, il a gagné 1,5 euro aujourd’hui. Ses deux enfants ont perdu leur emploi dans un hôtel et vendent des brochettes de poulet, mais il faut payer les 100 euros du loyer de la pièce où ils vivent tous.
    Phuket avait reçu 9 millions de visiteurs étrangers en 2019. En 2020, la Thaïlande tout entière n’aura accueilli que 6,7 millions de touristes. L’île générait à elle seule 440 milliards de baths (11 milliards d’euros) par an, ce qui permettait, selon l’économiste Chayanon Phucharoen, de la faculté de tourisme de l’université Prince of Songkla, à Phuket, « un effet d’entraînement majeur sur le reste du pays, notamment l’agriculture ».
    Les 42 000 visiteurs venus de l’étranger dans le cadre du « Sandbox » depuis le 1er juillet sont en nombre bien inférieur aux prévisions initiales, qui tablaient sur 100 000 les trois premiers mois. En cause, les retards de vaccination dans les pays sources, les restrictions aux sorties des frontières non essentielles et la réticence des personnes à voyager. L’objectif affiché désormais est d’en accueillir un million d’ici au mois de mars 2022. La pandémie a fait resurgir un vieux serpent de mer : transformer et diversifier l’économie de Phuket pour la rendre moins sensible aux chocs extérieurs.
    L’ouverture progressive de la Thaïlande aux voyageurs fait des émules dans une région, l’Asie du Sud-Est, désormais déterminée à vivre avec le Covid-19 : la Malaisie, qui affiche un taux de vaccination de 65 % pour deux doses, permet depuis le 10 octobre à ses nationaux vaccinés de voyager. L’Indonésie a ouvert Bali le 14 octobre aux touristes vaccinés de 19 pays avec cinq jours de quarantaine, et Singapour accueillera sans quarantaine les vaccinés de huit pays, dont la France, à partir du 19 octobre. « C’est la compétition pour attirer les touristes, si on continue d’imposer une quarantaine, même sept jours, on ne pourra pas se mesurer aux autres pays », a déclaré le 12 octobre ministre du tourisme et des sports thaïlandais, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#thailande#sante#vaccination#tourisme#economie#frontiere#circulation#malaisie#indonesie#singapour

  • Coronavirus: China unlikely to accept voluntary cross-border health code, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to top legislative body says | South China Morning Post
    https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152652/hong-kong-ramps-efforts-create-cross-border

    Coronavirus: China unlikely to accept voluntary cross-border health code, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to top legislative body says The Hong Kong government has offered up a raft of new proposals aimed at easing Beijing’s concerns over its contact-tracing abilities and reopening the border for travellers. Hong Kong’s sole delegate to China’s top legislative body has warned that mainland authorities are unlikely to accept any Covid-19 health code-sharing proposal from the city for residents to cross the border without having to undergo quarantine, unless they submit contact-tracing information as a mandatory requirement.National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee member Tam Yiu-chung disagreed with Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit Wing-hang, who dismissed suggestions that a voluntary system would be unacceptable to mainland authorities.Sit revealed on Sunday that the government had submitted several options in a bid to meet strict contact-tracing requirements on the mainland, including a new platform that would allow would-be travellers to voluntarily provide information beyond that contained in the city’s “Leave Home Safe” app.“On the mainland, if your mobile phone does not have a location-based system, you are required to buy a SIM card that does, and insert it into your phone so that you can be traced,” Tam said.
    “When the mainland is so strict about contact tracing, and you come up with something that’s loose or reliant on self-responsibility, I’m afraid that they may not accept it and this will just drag on.”The veteran Beijing loyalist revealed just the day before that he had been barred from attending an NPC meeting in the capital by mainland health authorities citing the risk of infection posed by a single, untraceable coronavirus case found recently in Hong Kong.The restriction underscored the strict, zero-infection protocol insisted upon by mainland authorities for any border reopening – in addition to a health code-sharing arrangement to track Hongkongers’ movements on the other side.Hong Kong is keen to restore travel and trade links with the mainland that are vital to the city’s economic growth, but privacy concerns among many residents are preventing the city from joining the mainland’s health code system.Tam argued that it would be only logical for Hong Kong authorities and residents to accept the tried and tested system being enforced on the mainland side.“That’s the simplest way to do it … If you are concerned about privacy, you need to rethink your plans about crossing the border,” he said.No reopening of Hong Kong-mainland China border ‘before FebruaryTam was reacting to the technology minister Sit’s position when he listed out the options that the government had submitted to mainland authorities.“[The first option] would make users responsible for recording their own whereabouts … while the second option would be for the government to give them a list of places deemed high-risk over the past 14, 21 or 30 days, and let them check if they visited those locations,” Sit said in a television interview.A third option, he said, would be to allow travellers to transfer information already stored in their Leave Home Safe app to a proposed cross-border health code platform so they would not need to record their whereabouts separately.
    But that option entailed a major disadvantage, Sit conceded, as the only locations stored by the app were for premises such as commercial buildings or restaurants that displayed a QR code.“Not all places have QR codes. People do not have QR codes at their homes, so this is just an assistive tool,” he said.Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit on Sunday dismissed the suggestion that voluntary system would be rejected by mainland officials.Sit added: “It is not technically impossible to make our [system] the same as the mainland’s … But we need to consider what is most suitable for Hong Kong as we adjust our technology and policies. As long as [both sides] have reached a consensus and made a decision … we can then work together [to achieve the goal].”Pro-establishment lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan said Sit’s comments suggested Hong Kong officials still did not understand the mainland’s expectations.Respiratory medicine expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu offered cautious praise for the proposed health code-sharing app while noting that the mainland did not have to rely on voluntary declarations to trace people’s movements.“The first two [app] options would work for specific groups of visitors, while the third option would be effective in tracking people’s whereabouts in Hong Kong when you are allowing a large number of them to cross the border,” he said.
    “But on the mainland, while authorities also ask residents to scan QR codes at places they visit, positioning data on their mobile phones can also be used when needed.”
    Infectious disease specialist Dr Joseph Tsang Kay-yan said it was time for Hong Kong authorities to accept the realities of the mainland’s strict contact-tracing regime.“It’s just like a relationship; when one side is saying that you have to be a homeowner in the city, you can’t really say ‘I’m already renting a village house’,” he said.“If someone wants to travel to a place outside Hong Kong, he must accept the regulations there, rather than challenging them.”Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the pro-establishment Federation of Trade Unions, said Hong Kong would have to connect with the mainland’s health code system.The city confirmed three new imported coronavirus cases on Sunday that took its infection tally to 12,294, with 213 related deaths

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#chine#hongkong#circulation#frontiere#QRcode#controlepolitique#sante

  • Etats-Unis : des milliers de coureurs étrangers privés du marathon de New York
    https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/10/17/etats-unis-des-milliers-de-coureurs-etrangers-prives-du-marathon-de-new-york

    Etats-Unis : des milliers de coureurs étrangers privés du marathon de New York.Le marathon de New York aura lieu le 7 novembre, la veille de la réouverture des frontières des Etats-Unis fermées depuis un an et demi.
    A un jour près, des milliers de coureurs étrangers, dont les ressortissants européens, britanniques, indiens et chinois, ne pourront pas participer au mythique marathon de New York. Il se déroule le 7 novembre, la veille de la levée du « travel ban », impliquant la réouverture des frontières des Etats-Unis fermées depuis un an et demi. Le constat a été établi dans un discret communiqué des organisateurs de la course, NYRR, publié vendredi 15 octobre au soir sur leur site Internet. « Les participants internationaux qui ne peuvent pas se rendre aux Etats-Unis en raison de l’interdiction du président des Etats-Unis [datant de la présidence de Donald Trump au printemps 2020] seront éligibles pour reporter leur entrée en vue du marathon de New York de 2022 », rapporte le communiqué. Il faudra toutefois que les participants éconduits « réclament » leur report sur l’édition 2022 entre « le 21 octobre et le 3 novembre 2021 », contre la somme de « 75 dollars ». Avant de pouvoir se réinscrire au début de l’année prochaine. Toute annulation pour l’édition 2021 ne sera pas remboursée.
    Après plus de dix-huit mois de fermeture de leurs frontières, les Etats-Unis ont annoncé, vendredi, qu’ils allaient les rouvrir le 8 novembre pour les millions de voyageurs interdits d’entrer en raison de la pandémie, mais à condition qu’ils soient vaccinés contre le Covid-19.Les organisateurs du marathon ont renvoyé à la liste dressée par les autorités sanitaires américaines des pays concernés depuis un an et demi par l’interdiction de voyager, sauf raison impérieuse : il s’agit de tous les pays européens de l’espace Schengen, du Royaume-Uni, de l’Irlande, du Brésil, de l’Afrique du Sud, de l’Inde, de la Chine et de l’Iran.Le marathon de New York – qui se termine à Central Park après avoir traversé les grands ponts new-yorkais – avait été annulé en 2020, année terrible pour la mégapole meurtrie par la pandémie. L’édition 2021, la 50e, devait accueillir quelque 33 000 coureurs, soit 60 % des 53 000 enregistrés en 2019.Avant la pandémie, le mythique marathon créé en 1970 attirait chaque année plus de 250 000 touristes, pour un impact économique évalué à 415 millions de dollars en 2015.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#etatsunis#frontiere#circulation#tourisme#vaccination

  • Covid-19 | EnQuete+
    https://www.enqueteplus.com/content/covid-19-13

    Ouf de soulagement. Le Sénégal fait désormais partie des pays ‘’verts’’, c’est-à-dire les pays dans lesquels aucune circulation active du virus n’est observée et aucun variant préoccupant n’est recensé. L’annonce a été faite, hier, par le ministère du Tourisme et des Transports aériens. Ainsi, les voyageurs en provenance ou à destination du Sénégal ne sont plus soumis aux motifs impérieux qu’ils soient vaccinés ou non. Selon un document officiel publié sur le site du Quai d’Orsay, ces voyageurs ne sont pas soumis aux mesures contraignantes pour entrer ou sortir du territoire français. Les voyageurs non-vaccinés à destination d’un pays vert devront fournir les résultats du test RT-PCR ou antigénique négatif au départ et à l’arrivée, selon les règles du pays de destination. Ils peuvent être soumis à une quarantaine, toujours selon les règles du pays de destination. En provenance d’un pays vert, ces derniers devront également fournir les résultats négatifs du test RT-PCR d’au moins 72 heures exigé avant le départ. Ils ne seront pas soumis à des mesures d’isolement.
    Quant aux voyageurs vaccinés à destination d’un pays vert, ils présenteront la preuve de leur vaccination, le test RT-PCR ou antigénique négatif au départ et à l’arrivée, selon les règles du pays de destination. Ils peuvent aussi être soumis à une mesure de quarantaine. En provenance d’un pays vert, les voyageurs n’auront pas à présenter un test et ne seront pas isolés. S’agissant des autres pays sur la liste des pays verts, on compte des pays de l’espace européen ainsi qu’Andorre, l’Islande, le Liechtenstein, Monaco, la Norvège, Saint-Marin, la Suisse et le Vatican. A cette liste, viennent s’ajouter l’Australie, l’Arabie saoudite, le Bahreïn, Brunei, le Canada, le Chili, le Sénégal, la Corée du Sud, les Émirats arabes unis, Hong-Kong, le Japon, la Jordanie, le Koweït, le Liban, la Nouvelle-Zélande, le Qatar, le Rwanda, Singapour, Taïwan, l’Union des Comores, l’Uruguay et le Vanuatu.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#senegal#UE#sante#circulation#frontiere#listeverte#variant#tauxincidence#vaccination#test

  • Voyage : Une note de l’Union européenne place le Sénégal parmi les pays « Verts »
    https://www.dakaractu.com/Voyage-Une-note-de-l-Union-europeenne-place-le-Senegal-parmi-les-pays-Ver

    Voyage : Une note de l’Union européenne place le Sénégal parmi les pays « Verts »Seront admis dans l’UE les voyageurs à destination ou en provenance du Sénégal, qu’ils soient vaccinés ou non. Ils ne seront plus soumis aux motifs impérieux pour entrer ou sortir de l’espace Schengen au départ ou à l’arrivée du pays de la Téranga, placé parmi les pays « Verts ».L’annonce est parue dans une note de l’Union européenne (UE). Notre pays fait partie de ceux considérés comme étant des espaces où « aucune circulation active du virus n’est observée et aucun variant préoccupant n’est recensé ».
    Il s’agit des pays de l’espace européen : États membres de l’Union européenne ainsi que Andorre, l’Islande, le Liechtenstein, Monaco, la Norvège, Saint-Marin, la Suisse et le Vatican. S’y ajoutent les pays suivants : l’Australie, l’Arabie Saoudite, le Bahreïn, Brunei, le Canada, le Chili, la Corée du Sud, les Émirats arabes unis, Hong-Kong, le Japon, la Jordanie, le Koweït, le Liban, la Nouvelle-Zélande, le Qatar, le Rwanda, le Sénégal, Singapour, Taïwan, l’Union des Comores, l’Uruguay et le Vanuatu.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#senegal#UE#sante#circulation#frontiere#listeverte#variant#tauxincidence