Airlines worldwide face an unprecedented existential threat as the coronavirus shuts down global travel, leaving governments with controversial and costly decisions about which carriers to bail out.
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The CEO of Volkswagen on Tuesday said the German auto giant was bracing for a “very difficult” year as the coronavirus epidemic wreaks havoc with the global economy.
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Major world airlines on Monday axed almost all flights on a temporary basis as the worsening coronavirus crisis sparks travel bans, ravages demand and sends shares into freefall, triggering pleas to help carriers survive.
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PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has declared that Malaysia will be placed under a nationwide movement restriction order from Wednesday (March 18) to March 31, 2020, due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The order, the first in the country’s history, was announced by the prime minister in a live broadcast over national television tonight.
A total of 315 new positive cases of Covid-19 have been reported over the past two days, bringing the total in Malaysia to 553 cases.
Of this total, 511 have been hospitalised while 42 people have recovered.
Muhyiddin said the nationwide movement restriction order means that all business premises have to be shut down, except for outlets such as supermarkets and grocery stores selling daily essentials.
He said all government and private premises would be closed, except for essential services such as utilities, telecommunications, transport, banking, health, pharmacies, ports, airports, cleaning and food supplies.
He said the movement restriction also means all Malaysians will be banned from travelling abroad, and that no tourists or foreigners will be allowed to enter the country. Those who have just arrived from abroad must undergo self-quarantine for 14 days.
All public and private schools, including kindergartens, nurseries, residential school and other educational institutions are also to close. All private and public higher institutions of learning will also close.
Closure of all government and private premises except essential services such as water and electricity, telecommunication, postal service, transport, fuel, gas, lubrication, broadcasting, banking, health, pharmacy, fire-fighting, ports, airports, prisons, security and defence, sanitary services, provision and food supply.
The order also calls on a ban on all mass gatherings, including religious, sports, social and cultural activities.
The Prime Minister said the measures were taken to protect the rakyat from the spread of the virus but advised Malaysian to not panic and stay calm.
Muhyiddin added that the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs will ensure that the supply of groceries and health care essentials will be readily available.
He also said that the government will address the situation daily and provided a hotline number – 0388882010- that will answer any queries from the public.
In an immediate response, former health minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told theSun that the order was the right action made in the right time.
“I am okay with it because it is in line with what I was advocating, I did not implement this earlier because at that time it wasn’t warranted and it wasn’t the right thing to do then,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdullah said that the provision of Section 11 (5) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 is read together with Section 24(a) of the same act.
Haniff said this would make any breach to the restriction order a criminal offence.
“The offense under section 11(5) carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. Whereas the second offence under section 24(b) warrants a maximum imprisonment sentence of five years.”
He also urged government officials to give a clear guideline on the extent of which a member of public can be out before it is considered an offense.
“This is to ensure proper and dutiful compliance on the part of public and to allow strict enforcement by the authorities.” he told theSun.
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Pregnant people don’t seem to be at greater risk of experiencing severe covid-19, and the virus doesn’t seem to pass to fetuses, but there’s still a lot we don’t know
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German airline group Lufthansa on Monday said it was slashing its long-haul capacity by 90 percent as the industry grapples with the devastating fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
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US airlines have announced drastic reductions in flights after President Donald Trump’s administration banned foreign travelers arriving from Europe.
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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government is considering the possibility of extending the current school holidays and getting the private sector to allow their employees to work from home in order to curb the spread of Covid-19.
In appealing to the people to minimise their movements, including avoiding non-essential travel, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said that more measures might be considered.
“I urge the public to stay calm and fully cooperate with the authorities in order to curb the spread of Covid-19. We can overcome this if we all come together to do our part,” he said in a statement today.
Since the first positive case was detected last week, involving a 58-year-old man in Tawau who was among those who attended the Sri Petaling Mosque tabligh gathering in Kuala Lumpur between Feb 27 and March 1, the Sabah Health Department has identified 49 cases in the state as of today.
Health officials in the state have detected more cases from among those who attended the mosque event and steps are being taken to trace the other participants and also the people they have come into contact with over the past 10 days since their return.
“The Health Department and others have been going all out to locate and identify areas that could have been contaminated.
“They have also taken swift measures, including temporarily closing mosque and suraus in areas that have had Covid-19 cases,” said Mohd Shafie, adding that since Jan 30, the Sabah government had halted the arrivals of tourists directly from countries affected by the virus.
Of the 49 cases reported in Sabah so far, 14 were in Lahad Datu; followed by Kota Kinabalu (nine); Tawau (eight); Kinabatangan (five); Tuaran (three); Kunak, Putatan and Sandakan (two each); Beaufort, Kota Belud; Papar and Sipitang (one each). — Bernama
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SINGAPORE: Singapore today confirmed 14 new cases of the novel coronavirus, its health ministry said, marking the biggest daily increase of the infection in the city-state.
Singapore has confirmed a total 226 cases of the virus so far, with 105 having fully recovered. Nine of the cases confirmed on Sunday are imported. — Reuters
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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s health ministry on Sunday urged its citizens to defer all non-essential travel abroad in an unprecedented move for the Asian transport hub, as part of new measures to control the coronavirus that is fast spreading around the world.
Singapore will also tell all entering the country with recent travel history to the Asean group of nations, Japan, Switzerland or the United Kingdom to quarantine themselves at their place of residence for 14 days, the ministry added.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Countries, such as the UK and Switzerland have “abandoned” any attempt at containing the spread of the infection, said Lawrence Wong, a minister who co-heads Singapore’s virus fighting taskforce.
“That’s why we are more concerned that Singapore may well be exposed to a new wave of infections, which is potentially larger than what we have seen previously.”
The majority of new infections being reported in Singapore, an island nation with a population of 5.7 million, over the past few days have been people returning from overseas rather than local transmissions.
At least five cases of Singaporeans have been linked to a large religious gathering in Malaysia that was attended by more than 10,000 people from several countries.
Short-term visitors who are nationals of its Southeast Asian neighbours will also have to seek prior approval from the health ministry before their journey to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
The restriction comes after a number of cases that entered Singapore with the specific purpose of seeking healthcare, the health ministry said. There have been two cases of Indonesians who had coronavirus symptoms at home before arriving in Singapore, known for its superior healthcare facilities.
The measures will be reviewed after a month. They will not apply to sea and land crossings with Malaysia, which will have separate precautions. Wong said 300,000 people a day move across the land checkpoints with Malaysia.
The Asian travel hub has previously announced bans on visitors from several coronavirus-hit countries, including China, Italy and France.
Singapore has won international praise for its painstaking onslaught on the virus since it initially emerged with one of the highest tallies of infections outside China. But other nations have since outpaced it.
Singapore has reported 212 infections, but no fatalities. Globally, more than 150,000 people have been infected while over 5,800 have died, a Reuters tally shows. — Reuters
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