#singapour

Migrants in the crossfire of Thai Covid blame game - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2021/01/migrants-in-the-crossfire-of-thai-covid-blame-game

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Market vendors refuse to let them buy food. Some banks won’t allow them to enter their premises. Hotels and guest houses double-check that non-Thai speaking Asians who seek to check-in are not from neighboring Myanmar.It all began on December 17 when a 67-year-old Thai working in a shrimp market in Mahachai in Samut Sakhon province southwest of Bangkok tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.Tens of thousands of Myanmar migrants have worked for years in the market and nearby seafood-processing plants, often doing thankless jobs that most Thais are unwilling to do.It’s become clear by now that Covid-19 spread quickly through Mahachai’s cramped and congested living quarters, similar to the ghetto-like dwellings and dormitories where the disease has thrived among migrants in Singapore and Malaysia.
As such, Myanmar migrants are now being blamed for what is being widely described as Thailand’s second viral wave, which is now creeping across the kingdom after months of reporting no community spread.
From a stable low of just over 4,000 cases and 60 deaths until mid-December, Thailand had 10,547 cases and 67 deaths as of January 11, according to the Thailand Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, a state body managing the pandemic.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#thailande#singapour#myanmar#malaisie#dortoir#marche#economie#travailleurmigrant

Singapore’s police now have access to contact tracing data | MIT Technology Review
▻https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/01/05/1015734/singapore-contact-tracing-police-data-covid/?truid=a497ecb44646822921c70e7e051f7f1a

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Contact tracing apps and systems around the world have faced longstanding questions about privacy and trust.
by

Mia Sato archive page

January 5, 2021
In Singapore, people standing in a long line, holding smartphones and wearing face masks.
Singapore Press via AP Images

The news: Police will be able to access data collected by Singapore’s covid-19 contact tracing system for use in criminal investigations, a senior official said on Monday. The announcement contradicts the privacy policy originally outlined when the government launched its TraceTogether app in March 2020, and is being criticized as a backpedal just after participation in contact tracing was made mandatory.

Officials said that while policy had stated that data would “only be used solely for the purpose of contact tracing of persons possibly exposed to covid-19”, the legal reality in Singapore is that police can access any data for criminal investigations—and that contact tracing data was no different. Its privacy policy was changed on January 4, 2021 to clarify “how the Criminal Procedure Code applies to all data under Singapore’s jurisdiction.”

Early mover: TraceTogether is accessed via a smartphone app or a small wearable device, and is used by nearly 80% of Singapore’s 5.7 million residents. It was the first of the major Bluetooth contact tracing apps unveiled in the spring of 2020, and its data is more centralized than the Apple-Google system used in many other places around the world. Singapore ruled out using the Apple-Google system itself because officials there said they wanted more detailed infection information). Participation in contact tracing was once voluntary, but the government rolled that back late last year and there are now mandatory check-ins at most places where people work, shop, and gather.

The country’s approach to the pandemic has been forceful in many ways, not just when it comes to contact tracing technology. For example, people caught without a mask in public face large fines.
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Why it matters: Our Covid Tracing Tracker notes the privacy policies for dozens of apps around the world that notify users of potential exposure to covid-19. Although Singapore’s general attitudes about data privacy may not mirror what’s happening elsewhere, contact tracing apps around the world have raised questions of user privacy since the first were launched last year. The news from Singapore hits on activists’ and ethicists’ concerns about data misuse, and groups like Human Rights Watch have outlined how surveillance could further hurt already marginalized communities.

In a recent essay in the journal Science, bioethicists Alessandro Blasimme and Effy Vayena from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, said that the “piecemeal creation of public trust” was an important missing ingredient if we want more people to use these apps.

Data is still important: This isn’t the first time the use of contact tracing data has intersected with law enforcement. Last July, German restaurants, bars and patrons raised objections when it was reported that police used information collected in contact tracing efforts to track down witnesses in investigations. And in late December 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law that prohibits law enforcement and immigration authorities from accessing contact tracing data. Groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and New York Immigration Coalition applauded the move.

#Covid #Data_trackers #Surveillance #Singapour

’Glamping’ at Singapore airport offers in-tents retail therapy | Singapore | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/glamping-at-singapore-airport-offers-in-tents-retail-therapy-covid
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The travel industry, hit by the pandemic, has searched for new ways to attract customers. Airlines and agents have sold takeaway in-flight meals to would-be travellers, opened flight simulators to the public and run speed dating events.Voyages to nowhere, where flights and cruises start and end in the same place, have also been launched, though with mixed success. Earlier this month once such cruise from Singapore ended abruptly and 1,700 guests had to isolate after a passenger tested positive for Covid-19. The government later said the result had been a false alarm and that three subsequent tests on land had come back negative.
In September, Singapore Airlines stopped running flights to nowhere after the trips were criticised by environmental groups. Instead it said it would offer people the chance to eat on board a grounded Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.Several other airlines, however, including Taiwan’s EVA Air, have continued to run such sightseeing trips for people who miss the experience of flying. Singapore this week banned travellers from the UK transiting through its airport in response to a new variant of coronavirus which has spread in England.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#taiwan#sante#deplacementaerien#test

UK ferry passengers disembark in Calais after France eases travel ban | Coronavirus | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/uk-ferry-passengers-disembark-in-calais-after-france-eases-travel-ban
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The BBC reported that soldiers had joined NHS Test and Trace staff in Kent to carry out rapid tests on stranded lorry drivers. Only those with a negative test are allowed to travel under the new rules.The resumption of travel services to France came as the key transit country of Singapore barred UK arrivals, including if they were in transit, from Wednesday night, following a similar move by Hong Kong. Singapore’s ministry of health said passengers who had been in the UK in the last 14 days would not be allowed entry from 11.59pm until further notice, a move that will affect travellers using it as a stopping off point on the way to countries such as Australia.
Returning citizens and permanent residents would need to take a Covid test, it said.With regard to the resumption of UK-French travel, the British Department for Transport said on Tuesday night that rail, air and sea services would resume from Wednesday, with all people required to show proof of a negative Covid test taken within the previous 72 hours. The UK transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the deal “will see the French border reopen to those travelling for urgent reasons, provided they have a certified negative Covid test”. However, he urged lorry drivers not to head towards Channel ports hoping to be able to board ferries or trains. The French transport minister Jean-Baptiste Djebarri also confirmed that air travel, ferries and Eurostar trains would “resume service as of tomorrow morning”.
“French nationals, people living in France and those with a legitimate reason will have to be carrying a negative test,” he said.Thousands of lorries have been stranded in southern England, unable to make the crossing to France. As night fell on Tuesday, drivers of some 800 trucks parked at a nearby disused airport sounded their horns for more than half an hour in protest.
The measures imposed on hauliers have caused concern over shortages of some fresh food products over a Christmas period already marred by strict coronavirus restrictions.The ban on freight and passengers was imposed by Paris on Sunday evening in an attempt to contain a newly discovered Covid-19 variant thought to have a growth rate up to 70% higher than previous types. France and more than 40 other countries had closed their borders to travellers from the UK since.On Tuesday scientists said thousands of cases of the more infectious variant had been detected across the UK, who said it had clearly spread beyond areas under the most severe tier 4 restrictions.Reports suggested ministers would meet on Wednesday to decide whether more parts of the country would be put under the toughest restrictions amid fears over the spread of a new mutant strain of coronavirus.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#france#angleterre#sante#test#contamination#frontiere#UE#australie#singapour

Hong Kong parents who travelled to Britain to see their kids ‘marooned’ by sudden flight ban | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3115003/hong-kong-parents-who-travelled-britain-see-their-kids-marooned

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For some parents of Hong Kong children studying overseas – most of whom have not seen their kids for months due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions – the festive season seemed like a good opportunity for a family reunion. But for the parents who managed to travel to Britain to make good on that opportunity, the season’s cheer has curdled into worry, as they now find themselves stranded after the government banned all passenger flights from there following the discovery of an especially transmissible strain of coronavirus sweeping London and the country’s southeast.Shirley Wong, a 45-year-old medical professional who works in a private hospital, arrived in Oxford on December 17 to visit her 17-year-old daughter, who studies in a boarding school.She promised her colleagues she would be back by January after completing her quarantine, as the hospital was short on manpower, and she was even prepared to cut short her trip if the pandemic situation worsened.But the sudden flight ban was “completely shocking” to her, leaving her no time for even last-minute preparations. Now stuck in limbo, she said she felt guilty that she cannot return on time.“I’ve told my bosses about the situation, but we are all feeling helpless. As a professional, I feel guilty, and I want to go back to help my patients and colleagues,” she said.
Wong said she had tried asking many parties for help, including contacting the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office to see if charter flights could be arranged for stranded residents who needed to return for work, but nothing could be done.“I don’t mind paying extra for quarantine hotels, or even being isolated for 28 days,” she said. “Please, just allow me to come back.”
Some parents have also reached out to education consultancies for assistance, according to Samuel Chan Sze-ming, founder of the Hong Kong-based Britannia StudyLink.“These parents are anxious and nervous, but many of them are understanding – they know it is out of our control,” he said.Local district councillor Anthony Sheik Bux, who is stranded in Britain himself, also wanted the government to organise a few flights for desperate residents to come home, and to inform them of the plans in advance.“There needs to be a schedule [from the government], as there are many logistical issues to take care of, including booking for tests and hotels in advance,” Bux said.Some Hongkongers in Britain have reached out to the government about the possibility of organising charter flights home. Photo:
Bux came to Liverpool in early December to visit his two sons and wife, all of whom are British citizens, after going some 10 months without seeing them.Also surprised by the sudden ban, he said he was taking things in stride and working remotely, and hoped to leave Britain by mid-January.
Kevin Bowers – a lawyer who has been organising a consortium of companies to help Hongkongers with a new BN(O) visa application process set to launch in January – said he knew of several people who have been “marooned” in Britain as a result of the ban.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#angleterre#singapour#sante#etudiant#quarantaine#test#retour

Coronavirus: Singapore tightens travel rules for Hong Kong visitors amid surge in cases | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3113668/coronavirus-singapore-tightens-travel-rules-hong-kong

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Singapore’s border controls for people coming in from Hong Kong will be revised given the “deteriorating” Covid-19 outbreak in the Chinese city, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday.Travellers who have been to Hong Kong in the last 14 days and are entering Singapore from next Monday will need to serve a two-week stay-home notice at dedicated facilities.
From December 19, travellers from Hong Kong planning to enter Singapore must take a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 72 hours before departure and present a valid negative test.
The PCR test does not apply to Singapore citizens and permanent residents. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced earlier this month that the launch of the Singapore-Hong Kong air travel bubble has been delayed to next year, with the exact start date to be reviewed in late December, given the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#hongkong#chine#singapour#sante#test#voyageur#bullevoyage

A Singapour, un cas de Covid-19 interrompt une « croisière vers nulle part »
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2020/12/09/a-singapour-une-croisiere-vers-nulle-part-interrompue-apres-un-cas-de-covid-

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Ce type de croisières, au départ et à l’arrivée de la cité-Etat d’Asie du Sud-Est, uniquement réservées aux Singapouriens, ont commencé le mois dernier après des mois d’immobilisation des paquebots. Mais, mercredi matin, Royal Caribbean a fait savoir qu’« un passager du Quantum of the Seas avait été testé positif au coronavirus après vérification de l’équipe médicale ». Le bateau qui transportait la croisière a alors été contraint de retourner à quai, au troisième jour du « voyage » qui en prévoyait quatre, selon le quotidien Strait Times. L’autorité du tourisme singapourienne a précisé que les près de 1 700 passagers à bord sont restés confinés dans leurs cabines pendant plus de quatorze heures et ont subi des tests avant de pouvoir quitter le terminal.
« Nous avons identifié et isolé tous les passagers et membres d’équipage qui ont été en contact rapproché avec ce passager [testé positif] », âgé de 83 ans, et ils ont tous été testés négatifs, a encore précisé l’opérateur dans un communiqué. Le bateau transportait également 1 148 membres d’équipage.Suivant le retraçage des contacts étroits avec le cas de contamination en question, les passagers seront placés en quarantaine ou sous surveillance sanitaire, a déclaré le ministère de la santé de Singapour dans un avis envoyé aux passagers.« Nous comprenons bien que ce n’est pas ainsi que vous aviez prévu de passer votre croisière et, encore une fois, mesdames et messieurs, j’en suis terriblement désolé », a déclaré le capitaine du Quantum of the Seas, dans un enregistrement entendu par Reuters. Ces croisières avaient rencontré un franc succès auprès des Singapouriens frustrés de ne pas pouvoir voyager à l’étranger après la fermeture de nombreuses frontières en raison de la pandémie de Covid-19. Les croisiéristes avaient prévu des mesures sanitaires très strictes, avec des tests obligatoires avant de laisser les passagers ou les membres d’équipage monter à bord et des désinfections fréquentes pour éviter tout nouveau foyer de propagation du virus.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#tourisme#croisiere#sante#economie#frontiere#mesuresanitaire

Hong Kong reveals plans to step up border controls to shield city from Covid-19 rebound, as warning signs of new wave emerge among drivers | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3109334/hong-kong-step-covid-19-border-controls-city-put

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Hong Kong risks a winter surge of Covid-19 if it lets its guard down, Sophia Chan says. New Covid-19 measures:
•Four regular testing centres to operate long-term, offering free service for those at high risk of infections, and paid screening for those requiring certification to travel, especially for Singapore-Hong Kong bubble
•A virus notification app will be set up for users to record their travel history and notify them of exposure risks
•A multi-pronged strategy will be adopted to close border loopholes for people exempted from quarantine, including a mandatory negative test for those from high-risk countries, and point-to-point pickups instead of public transport
Hong Kong revealed plans to step up border controls against Covid-19 as possible new infections among taxi drivers emerged on Wednesday, sparking concerns that the next wave could be starting.Health minister Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee moved to close quarantine loopholes to prevent another onslaught of cases during the winter flu season, saying the city had to remain vigilant.“If we let down our guard, a fourth wave can start anytime and can become more severe with the flu season in the autumn and winter,” the secretary for food and health said. “Externally [we must] guard our border well, and internally stop the spread.”

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#hongkong#singapour#sante#mesuresanitaire#frontiere#grippe#bullevoyage#tracking#politiquesante

HK-Singapore ’travel bubble’ starts on November 22 - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/11/hk-singapore-travel-bubble-starts-on-november-22

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Hong Kong and Singapore will launch a “travel bubble” on November 22, their governments said Wednesday, in a rare piece of good news for the pandemic-battered airline and tourism industries.A quota of 200 residents from each city will be able to travel on one daily flight to the other, Hong Kong commerce minister Edward Yau told a press conference.Only those who have been in Hong Kong or Singapore for two weeks and tested negative for the coronavirus will be allowed to board, he added.The corridor offers a glimpse into how places with less severe outbreaks might be able to safely restart some travel.Passengers arriving in Hong Kong will have to test negative again at the airport to avoid quarantine, while those arriving in Singapore will have to download a contact-tracing app.
Those hoping to get on a plane in Hong Kong will have to stump up about HK$1,500 (US$190) for a test at a government-approved laboratory or hospital.In Singapore, a test will set you back about Sg$200 ($150).

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#hongkong#singapour#sante#bullevoyage#frontiere#test#tracking#tourisme#economie

Singapore makes first move in reopening to China - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/singapore-makes-first-move-in-reopening-to-china

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Singapore will become the first regional countries to scrap mandatory quarantine measures for arrivals from China, a daring move coming against the backdrop of resurgent second and third Covid-19 waves and new lockdowns in Europe. Starting from November 6, the Southeast Asian city-state will reopen its border to Chinese visitors and its returning nationals. China still puts all arriving passengers, including Singaporeans, in two-week, confinement-style quarantine. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s administration is taking the initiative amid a steep economic downturn, a sign that his trade-geared nation needs to reintegrate with the regional economy as fast as possible. Singapore’s stock market has shed 25% of its value this year, ranking among the region’s worst performers.
China’s Embassy in the so-called Lion City commended the one-way travel relaxation as a positive step for resuming bilateral exchanges that have fallen off dramatically since the pandemic started its lethal global spread earlier this year.The move is also an endorsement of China’s perceived ability to stamp out the virus, which is still coursing through many regional countries including Singapore’s neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#chine#malaisue#indonesie#asie#sante#frontiere#economie#retour#tourisme#etudiant

Hong Kong records eight new cases of Covid-19, as government adviser calls for Spain, Italy to be added to high-risk list | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3107085/hong-kong-records-eight-new-cases-covid-19

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Spain and Italy should be added to Hong Kong’s list of high-risk countries for Covid-19, a top medical expert said, as the city recorded eight new coronavirus cases on Monday – all of them imported.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#sante#casimporte

Hong Kong pushes health code to open up travel - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/hong-kong-pushes-health-code-to-open-up-travel

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The Hong Kong government is pushing hard for the launch of a health code system that will let people travel in the Greater Bay Area without being quarantined. Chief Executive Carrie Lam told local newspapers she had explained to the central government that it was hard for Hong Kong to have zero local cases though the city had been successful in identifying imported cases. Whenever Hong Kong managed to control its epidemic, it could reopen its border with mainland China under certain conditions, which include the launch of a health code system, the use of negative test certificates and a cap on the number of travellers, Lam said.
If Hong Kong could reopen its border with Guangdong, it would not be far to resume travel between the territory and Macau, she said, adding that she was closely monitoring the number of local infections every day.According to the mainland’s standard, a low-risk region refers to a province or city that has not recorded any local case for 14 consecutive days. A single case can make a place become a medium-risk region. The Center for Health Protection said Monday that a total of 15 cases were recorded, including 14 imported cases and one local infection, within the 24 hours on Sunday. The local case could be linked to previous cases. It was the third day Hong Kong has recorded no local infection with no known source. Between Friday and Saturday, 21 cases were identified, comprising 19 imported cases and two local cases with known sources.
Three in four Hong Kong people hoped that they could be allowed to visit Macau and mainland China freely with a health code system as early as possible, according to a survey conducted by Youth Vision, a pro-Beijing activist group, which interviewed 1,780 people between October 8 and 12 over the Internet.Ben Chan, an advisor of Youth Vision and a lawmaker of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, said people who had to travel between Hong Kong and mainland due to medical or family reasons had been seriously affected by the border closure this year. Chan urged the Hong Kong government to speed up its discussions with the central government about the launch of a health code system for the Greater Bay Area region. Chan also said it would be more urgent to reopen Hong Kong’s border with Macau, rather than forming a “travel bubble” with Singapore, as many Hong Kong people’s relatives were living in the nearby special administrative region.According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the number of visitors to Hong Kong amounted to 9,132 in September, down 99.7% from the same period last year. Last week, the Hong Kong government announced that Singapore and the territory had agreed to set up an “air travel bubble” that would allow people to travel between the two places with negative test certificates. Meanwhile, Sophia Chan, the Secretary for Food and Health, said in a radio program on Sunday that the government was seeking legal advice about requiring those who have mild illness symptoms to have mandatory virus tests.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#chine#macau#frontiere#sante#circulation#bullevoyage#codesante#casimporte

Hong Kong to form ‘travel bubble’ with Singapore - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/10/hong-kong-to-form-travel-bubble-with-singapore

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Hong Kong and Singapore have agreed in principle to form an “air travel bubble,” which will let people who have tested negative for coronavirus travel between the cities without being quarantined.The agreement was reached between Edward Yau, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, and Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Transport Minister, in a videoconference on Wednesday. Travelers would have to take a Covid test recognised in each place before they could be exempted from quarantine, Yau said on Thursday. There would be no restriction on the purpose of the travel or itineraries but there were conditions. For example, “bubble” passengers would be required to take a designated flight and no transit passengers would be allowed on it, he said. The scheme could be adjusted or suspended at any time, depending on the epidemic situation in the two places, Yau said. The governments hoped the scheme could be launched within weeks.
“I am pleased that both sides have agreed on the key features to underpin the expeditious conclusion of the air travel bubble between two major international aviation hubs in the world,” Yau said. “This is a milestone in our efforts to resume normalcy while fighting against the long-drawn battle of Covid-19.”
Ong was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the Hong Kong government, “Both our cities have low incidence of Covid-19 cases and have put in place robust mechanisms to manage and control the virus. This has given us the confidence to mutually and progressively open our borders to each other.” “It is a safe, careful, but significant step forward to revive air travel, and provide a model for future collaboration with other parts of the world.”

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#hongkong#circulation#sante#bullesecurite

Covid: Australia in talks over quarantine-free travel - BBC News
▻https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54499478

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Australia’s government says it is in talks with several nations about quarantine-free travel, but warns that Europe and the US will not be on the list.The first agreement would be with New Zealand, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.Other nations that could follow suit are Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Pacific Island nations.Australia closed its borders in March, early into the pandemic. To date, it has recorded 27,263 cases and 898 deaths. It has fared better than other nations but recently saw a second wave in the state of Victoria, forcing Melbourne and its surrounding areas into another lockdown. Infections have fallen dramatically since.
From Friday, New Zealanders will be able to travel to some Australian states - New South Wales, Canberra and the Northern Territory - without having to quarantine. But they will have to quarantine in a hotel upon their return home.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#australie#nouvellezelande#japon#coreedusud#singapour#sante#confinement#frontiere#circulation

Trump’s Covid-19 antibody treatment was partly developed using Singaporean blood plasma | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3104427/trumps-covid-19-antibody-treatment-was-partly

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Trump was discharged from hospital on Monday evening and in a video released shortly after he was ensconced in the White House said he was feeling better.Dr Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, told CNN:“The president might be the only patient on the planet ever to receive this particular combination of medicines.”
Indeed, REGN-COV2 has not received emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration and the biotech firm said it had provided the drug in response to Trump’s doctors making a “compassionate use” request. Asian Science Magazine said convalescent plasma from patients who had recovered from Covid-19 could be used to prevent or treat the disease but even with the US Food and Drug Administration authorising the emergency use of convalescent plasma, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient blood from volunteers meant it was not possible to use it at a large scale.
Instead, the Regeneron therapy clones antibodies from both “humanised” mice and recovered patients to produce a reliable source of monoclonal antibodies, reported the magazine.
“While the humanised mice were based on a technology owned by Regeneron, the human plasma used was supplied through an agreement with Singapore’s National Centre for Infectious Diseases,” it added. Reports of antibody treatments in the works emerged in June, with most of them in labs across Asia, including Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea. Scientists explained that the treatment works by harvesting specific antibodies – produced by the body to fight off diseases when an individual catches a virus – to trigger other parts of the immune system to attack the cells containing the toxin.
For Singapore, its defence research and development organisation DSO National Laboratories had announced in June that it had discovered five antibodies that could block the coronavirus and protect against key mutations, after scientists screened hundreds of thousands of cells that produce the antibodies.The country’s government-linked biomedical sciences institute A*Star is working with Japanese pharmaceutical company Chugai Group separately on similar treatments

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#etatsunis#trump#sante#traitement#circulationthérapeutique#asie#singapour#japon#chine#coreedusud

Foreigners not as wanted as before in Singapore - Asia Times
▻https://asiatimes.com/2020/09/foreigners-not-as-wanted-as-before-in-singapore

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Singapore’s success as a global business hub has hinged on its openness to global capital and labor flows, a formula that is under unprecedented strain in the Covid-19 era. The pandemic has put a spotlight on low-wage migrant workers often employed in the construction sector who account for around 95% of the city-state’s recorded 57,500 infections. Issues related to rising immigration and skilled foreign labor have, on the other hand, stoked a polarizing debate and stirred exclusionary sentiments, particularly toward professional migrants from India who some critics and netizens view as being overrepresented in well-paid sectors such as information technology and banking. “Attitudes towards middle-class migrants are similar to global sentiments under these pandemic conditions and are characterized by heightened xenophobia in many cases, seeing migrants as competing for scarce jobs and resources with citizens,” said Laavanya Kathiravelu, a sociologist at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
Opposition parties notably increased their vote share at the polls after pressing the PAP on immigration and foreign worker issues on the campaign trail. At the first session of Parliament since the polls, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh called for anti-discrimination laws to punish companies that discriminate against hiring Singaporean workers.
Prior to that, in August, the government said it would raise the minimum monthly

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#economie#sante#immigration#xenophonie#travailleurmigrant

#Covid-19 #migrant #migration #singapour #expatries #economie ’End of Singapore’ for expats as government tells firms to hire locals in coronavirus crisis
▻https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/06/end-singapore-expats-government-tells-firms-hire-locals-coronavirus

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2020/09/05/TELEMMGLPICT000238370787_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQfyf2A9a6I9YchsjMeADBa08.jpeg?impolicy=logo-overlay

#Covid-19 #migrant #migration #expatries #singapour #economie Singapore’s Coveted Expat Jobs Threatened by Local Hire Push
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-26/singapore-expat-jobs-under-threat-in-recession-local-hire-push

Frustrated Chinese travellers in Singapore show limits of border reopenings as Covid-19 rages on | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3098988/frustrated-chinese-travellers-singapore-show-limits

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After two years in Singapore’s food and beverage industry, Chen – not his real name – said he was ready to return to his home country, but the new negative test result prerequisite for travelling was making him anxious.
Singapore, with more than 56,000 cases though the bulk of patients have recovered, generally offers tests only to those showing symptoms. Late on Wednesday, it announced it would make tests available between Friday and next Monday to travellers to China, to align with the new requirements.
Chen is not alone. As countries around the region ease open their borders in a bid to revive the ailing aviation industry, many would-be travellers have been left feeling confused and angry by what sometimes seem like daily rule changes by governments seeking to prevent imported infections that could trigger mass local outbreaks and force fresh lockdowns.

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#asie#chine#travailleurmigrant#test#sante#testnegatif#frontiere

Ban on Air India flights to Hong Kong ignores imported coronavirus cases travelling to city via connecting flights, analysis shows | South China Morning Post
▻https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3098502/coronavirus-ban-air-india-flights-hong-kong

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Despite recent government actions aimed at preventing Air India from carrying coronavirus-positive passengers into Hong Kong, a review by the Post has found that direct flights only account for part of the issue, with connecting flights from other locales also bringing in several cases from India. At least 44 cases imported from India have emerged since stricter public health restrictions were imposed on high-risk countries. Nineteen of the cases can be traced to a single August 14 flight operated by India’s national airline, triggering a two-week ban on Air India flights to the city by Hong Kong authorities. Five other cases were linked to an Air India flight from Delhi on August 11, and eight more were on another flight from Delhi a week before that.But a review of the official data also found another six Covid-19 cases imported from India could be traced to Singapore Airlines flight 890 on August 5. A further analysis of travel patterns found six more such cases travelled to Hong Kong via Singapore, Doha and Kuala Lumpur in late July and the first 19 days of August, indicating the problem is not limited to direct flights from India

#Covid-19#migrant#migration#inde#hongkong#singapour#casimporte#liaisonaerienne#sante#restrictionsanitaire#circulation

Organizing amidst Covid-19

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Miguel Martinez
Mutating mobilisations during the pandemic crisis in Spain (movement report, pp. 15 – 21)

Laurence Cox
Forms of social movement in the crisis: a view from Ireland (movement report, pp. 22 – 33)

Lesley Wood
We’re not all in this together (movement report, pp. 34 – 38)

Angela Chukunzira
Organising under curfew: perspectives from Kenya (movement report, pp. 39 – 42)

Federico Venturini
Social movements’ powerlessness at the time of covid-19: a personal account (movement report, pp. 43 – 46)

Sobhi Mohanty
From communal violence to lockdown hunger: emergency responses by civil society networks in Delhi, India (movement report, pp. 47 – 52)
Feminist and LGBTQ+ activism

Hongwei Bao
“Anti-domestic violence little vaccine”: a Wuhan-based feminist activist campaign during COVID-19 (movement report, pp. 53 – 63)

Ayaz Ahmed Siddiqui
Aurat march, a threat to mainstream tribalism in Pakistan (movement report, pp. 64 – 71)

Lynn Ng Yu Ling
What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for PinkDot Singapore? (movement report, pp. 72 – 81)

María José Ventura Alfaro
Feminist solidarity networks have multiplied since the COVID-19 outbreak in Mexico (movement report, pp. 82 – 87)

Ben Trott
Queer Berlin and the Covid-19 crisis: a politics of contact and ethics of care (movement report, pp. 88 – 108)
Reproductive struggles

Non Una Di Meno Roma
Life beyond the pandemic (movement report, pp. 109 – 114)
Labour organising

Ben Duke
The effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the gig economy and zero hour contracts (movement report, pp. 115 – 120)

Louisa Acciari
Domestic workers’ struggles in times of pandemic crisis (movement report, pp. 121 – 127)

Arianna Tassinari, Riccardo Emilia Chesta and Lorenzo Cini
Labour conflicts over health and safety in the Italian Covid19 crisis (movement report, pp. 128 – 138)

T Sharkawi and N Ali
Acts of whistleblowing: the case of collective claim making by healthcare workers in Egypt (movement report, pp. 139 – 163)

Mallige Sirimane and Nisha Thapliyal
Migrant labourers, Covid19 and working-class struggle in the time of pandemic: a report from Karnataka, India (movement report, pp. 164 – 181)
Migrant and refugee struggles

Johanna May Black, Sutapa Chattopadhyay and Riley Chisholm
Solidarity in times of social distancing: migrants, mutual aid, and COVID-19 (movement report, pp. 182 – 193)

Anitta Kynsilehto
Doing migrant solidarity at the time of Covid-19 (movement report, pp. 194 – 198)

Susan Thieme and Eda Elif Tibet
New political upheavals and women alliances in solidarity beyond “lock down” in Switzerland at times of a global pandemic (movement report, pp. 199 – 207)

Chiara Milan
Refugee solidarity along the Western Balkans route: new challenges and a change of strategy in times of COVID-19 (movement report, pp. 208 – 212)

Marco Perolini
Abolish all camps in times of corona: the struggle against shared accommodation for refugees* in Berlin (movement report, pp. 213 – 224)
Ecological activism

Clara Thompson
#FightEveryCrisis: Re-framing the climate movement in times of a pandemic (movement report, pp. 225 – 231)

Susan Paulson
Degrowth and feminisms ally to forge care-full paths beyond pandemic (movement report, pp. 232 – 246)

Peterson Derolus [FR]
Coronavirus, mouvements sociaux populaires anti-exploitation minier en Haïti (movement report, pp. 247 – 249)

Silpa Satheesh
The pandemic does not stop the pollution in River Periyar (movement report, pp. 250 – 257)

Ashish Kothari
Corona can’t save the planet, but we can, if we listen to ordinary people (movement report, pp. 258 – 265)
Food sovereignty organising

Dagmar Diesner
Self-governance food system before and during the Covid-crisis on the example of CampiAperti, Bologna (movement report, pp. 266 – 273)

URGENCI
Community Supported Agriculture is a safe and resilient alternative to industrial agriculture in the time of Covid-19 (movement report, pp. 274 – 279)

Jenny Gkougki
Corona-crisis affects small Greek farmers who counterstrike with a nationwide social media campaign to unite producers and consumers on local level! (movement report, pp. 280 – 283)

John Foran
Eco Vista in the quintuple crisis (movement report, pp. 284 – 291)
Solidarity and mutual aid

Michael Zeller
Karlsruhe’s “giving fences”: mobilisation for the needy in times of COVID-19 (movement report, pp. 292 – 303)

Sergio Ruiz Cayuela
Organising a solidarity kitchen: reflections from Cooperation Birmingham (movement report, pp. 304 – 309)

Clinton Nichols
On lockdown and locked out of the prison classroom: the prospects of post-secondary education for incarcerated persons during pandemic (movement report, pp. 310 – 316)

Micha Fiedlschuster and Leon Rosa Reichle
Solidarity forever? Performing mutual aid in Leipzig, Germany (movement report, pp. 317 – 325)
Artistic and digital resistance

Kerman Calvo and Ester Bejarano
Music, solidarities and balconies in Spain (movement report, pp. 326 – 332)

Neto Holanda and Valesca Lima [PT]
Movimentos e ações político-culturais do Brasil em tempos de pandemia do Covid-19 (movement report, pp. 333 – 338)

Margherita Massarenti
How Covid-19 led to a #Rentstrike and what it can teach us about online organizing (movement report, pp. 339 – 346)

Dounya
Knowledge is power: virtual forms of everyday resistance and grassroots broadcasting in Iran (movement report, pp. 347 – 354)
Imagining a new world

Donatella della Porta
How progressive social movements can save democracy in pandemic times (movement report, pp. 355 – 358)

Jackie Smith
Responding to coronavirus pandemic: human rights movement-building to transform global capitalism (movement report, pp. 359 – 366)

Yariv Mohar
Human rights amid Covid-19: from struggle to orchestration of tradeoffs (movement report, pp. 367 – 370)

Julien Landry, Ann Marie Smith, Patience Agwenjang, Patricia Blankson Akakpo, Jagat Basnet, Bhumiraj Chapagain, Aklilu Gebremichael, Barbara Maigari and Namadi Saka,
Social justice snapshots: governance adaptations, innovations and practitioner learning in a time of COVID-19 (movement report, pp. 371 – 382)

Roger Spear, Gulcin Erdi, Marla A. Parker and Maria Anastasia
Innovations in citizen response to crises: volunteerism and social mobilization during COVID-19 (movement report, pp. 383 – 391)

Breno Bringel
Covid-19 and the new global chaos (movement report, pp. 392 – 399)

▻https://www.interfacejournal.net/interface-volume-12-issue-1

#mouvements_sociaux #résistance #covid-19 #confinement #revue #aide_mutuelle #Espagne #résistance #Irlande #Kenya #impuissance #sentiment_d'impuissance #faim #violence #Delhi #Inde #féminisme #Wuhan #Pakistan #PinkDot #LGBT #Singapour #solidarité_féministe #solidarité #Mexique #care #Berlin #Allemagne #queer #gig_economy #travail #travail_domestique #travailleurs_domestiques #Italie #Egypte #travailleurs_étrangers #Karnataka #distanciation_sociale #migrations #Suisse #route_des_Balkans #Balkans #réfugiés #camps_de_réfugiés #FightEveryCrisis #climat #changement_climatique #décroissance #Haïti #extractivisme #pollution #River_Periyar #Periyar #souveraineté_alimentaire #nourriture #alimentation #CampiAperti #Bologne #agriculture #Grèce #Karlsruhe #Cooperation_Birmingham #UK #Angleterre #Leipzig #musique #Brésil #Rentstrike #Iran #droits_humains #justice_sociale #innovation #innovation_sociale

ping @isskein @karine4

SINGAPORE Coronavirus: uncertain future for 1.7 million foreigners in Singapore
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#singapour#chomage

▻http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Coronavirus:-uncertain-future-for-1.7-million-foreigners-in-Singapore-50337

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Due to the crisis, many expats have lost their jobs or had to accept wage cuts. The city-state risks losing 200,000 jobs, 60 per cent of which will affect foreign workers. Unemployment benefits and income subsidies are only for Singaporean citizens and permanent residents. Without work, low-income migrants cannot pay the debts they incurred with their recruiting agencies.

#Covid-19 #migrant #migration #expatries #singapour “Le Covid-19 m’a révélé l’autre visage de Singapour”
►https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/magazine/singapore-coronavirus.html

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Singapore coronavirus clusters awaken Asia to migrants’ plight - Nikkei Asian Review
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Japon#Singapour#travailleurmigrant#cluster
▻https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Singapore-coronavirus-clusters-awaken-Asia-to-migrants-plight

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▻https://m.lecourrier.vn/plus-de-340-vietnamiens-rapatries-de-singapour/779388.html
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Vietnamien#Singapour#rapatriement

Plus de 340 Vietnamiens ont été rapatriés de Singapour le 31 mai. Ils comprenaient des enfants moins de 18 ans, des personnes âgées, des malades, des travailleurs dont le contrat de travail est expiré, des touristes bloqués en raison du COVID-19...