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Nine out of the 17 mayors in Metro Manila voted to place the metropolis under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) beginning March to boost the economy, Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco said Thursday. MGCQ means easing almost all quarantine restrictions, leaving only public health measures—wearing masks and face shields, physical distancing and frequent hand sanitizing—strictly enforced. It also means the return of all public utility vehicles on the road and the expansion of capacity in public places, such as restaurants and churches, to 75 percent. In a radio interview, Tiangco said eight mayors voted during the Metro Manila Council (MMC) meeting on Wednesday night not to ease the coronavirus curbs in Metro Manila, which is under general community quarantine. He said the MMC, the policymaking body of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) would make a recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on the … [Read more...] about 9 of 17 Metro mayors in favor of easing restrictions

A TEENAGER with no underlying health conditions has died after testing positive for Covid. The 17-year-old was one of 279 people who died from coronavirus in the past 24 hours. The deaths bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities in hospitals in England to 83,529 The patients were aged between 17 and 102 years old. All except 11 of them - aged 17 to 89 years old - had underlying health conditions. Most read in News MEG'S BATTLE Meg demands £1.5m legal fees & copies of dad's letter after MoS privacy win MISSING MUTANT Brazil Covid 'Patient X' traced to one of 379 households in South East Exclusive GREEKLIGHTNING Brits with vaccine passports will skip border queue if they go to in Greece SHOW TIME Meg & Harry's Oprah chat 'bought for £1M by ITV' despite 'diplomatic bomb' fears KNOW THE SIGNS Four Covid-related skin conditions you … [Read more...] about Teen, 17, with no underlying health conditions dies after testing positive for Covid

DUBAI: Iran has temporarily freed about 85,000 people from jail, including political prisoners, in response to the coronavirus epidemic, a judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday (Mar 17). Iran has reported 16,169 coronavirus cases and 988 deaths from the virus in one of the worst national outbreaks outside China, where the pandemic originated. "So far, some 85,000 prisoners have been released ... Also in the jails we have taken precautionary measures to confront the outbreak," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said. Asked whether political prisoners were among those freed, he told a briefing aired by state television: "Yes, about 50per cent of them were security-related prisoners." He did not say when those freed must return to jail. Iran announced the release of 70,000 prisoners on March 9 in response to the virus, but none were political detainees. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, said then that he had asked Tehran to free all … [Read more...] about Iran temporarily frees 85,000 from jail, including political prisoners, amid coronavirus

PHNOM PENH: The Cambodian government has used the coronavirus outbreak to lock up opposition activists and others expressing concern about the virus and the government's response, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday (Mar 24). Seventeen people have been arrested since late January for sharing information about the coronavirus in Cambodia, including four members or supporters of the dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), New York-based Human Rights Watch said. They were charged with penal code violations including incitement, conspiracy, and spreading false information, the group said. The arrests included a 14-year-old girl who expressed fears on social media about rumours of coronavirus cases at her school and in her province, Human Rights Watch said. Twelve were released from detention after signing pledges not to spread "fake news" and to apologise, the group said. "The Cambodian government is misusing the COVID-19 outbreak to lock up … [Read more...] about Cambodia uses coronavirus crisis to arrest 17 critics: Rights group

SINGAPORE: When he was deployed by Certis during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, Sergeant (Auxiliary Police Force) Gogulakanan Govindasamy was a 26-year-old bachelor who wanted to make a difference. Seventeen years later, he is a married man with three children, but his desire to help out in a crisis has not waned. "Now people are more cooperative and understanding. They understand what a quarantine is and know what the purpose of a quarantine is," said SGT (APF) Gogulakanan, who is a quarantine order agent. "During the SARS period, there was less awareness - they didn't know what a quarantine was." The SARS outbreak saw 238 cases in Singapore, with 33 deaths. READ: More than 7,000 Stay-Home Notices issued for COVID-19; checks done through GPS, photos - ICA READ: Two RSAF regulars on home quarantine after four others diagnosed with COVID-19 "Back then, I was a bachelor, so I didn't have to ask anybody's approval and I just did … [Read more...] about 17 years after SARS, this quarantine order agent is back on the frontline battling COVID-19