Vaccines not lockdowns helping to reduce COVID-19 cases in Thailand

 Statements from the Ministry of Public Health yesterday reported by Daily News indicated that Thailand's vaccine rollout was continuing to gather pace.

Dr Kiatphoom said that the country was on the way to having perhaps 5,000 daily infections by the New Year though he cautioned that four main measures were needed as the country reopened its activities or this could spike again to 30,000.

He said that lockdown measures were now losing their effectiveness.

He cited the UK with a roughly similar population as an example of having a large number of daily infections though the daily death toll there was a manageable 143.

This was because of their advanced vaccination program.

Thailand ranked 26th for Covid severity at the moment, he said, announcing 11,200 infections and 113 deaths.

57 million does of vaccine had been administered that was 33.7 million first doses, 22 million second and 1.6 million third.

59.3% of the elderly had been vaccinated with a first jab and 62% of those with seven underlying health conditions.

There is a target of 4 million 12 - 17 year old high school students to get jabbed to allow schools to open - so far just 74,000 have been vaccinated or 1.7%.

By the end of October it is expected that 61% of the Thai population will have got a first jab, 37% a second.

With vaccinations picking up pace this would be 75% first and 55% second at the end of November and by the end of the year 85% of the population would have got a first dose and 70% a second.

He noted that Bangkok and surrounding areas were seeing a good drop in infections and this was generally being seen in the provinces except in four far southern provinces where greater measures were needed.

He described Thailand as being at a crossroads now with four main areas needed - the progress of the vaccine rollout, universal protection measures, testing and strict protocols in places like movie theaters and restaurants and other settings where many people would gather.

The gist of the Daily News report was that Thailand was finally on track with its vaccine rollout and there were positive signs but experience in other countries should drive the country's next phase of responses.

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Source - ASIAN NOW

Our - VISA AGENT

Qantas cuts 6,000 jobs to recover huge revenue losses

Australia’s Qantas Group is cutting at least 6,000 jobs after a massive revenue loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The jobs losses will be spread across all parts of the business while continuing to stand down 15,000 employees in an effort to recover. The Qantas Group includes the Qantas ‘full service’ brand and the JetStar discount airline offshoot.

20 % of the Qantas and Jetstar 30,000-strong workforce will go and at least 100 aircraft will be grounded for up to one year. The move by Australia’s flagship carrier is set to save $15 billion over the next 3 years as a way to manage the extended period of reduced flight demand due to the corona-virus.

The airline is currently operating around a domestic capacity of 15% of its per-corona-virus levels with revenue levels expected to drop in the second half of this year.

SOURCE: 7News

#Germany to lift travel warning to most European countries from June 15

Germany will lift its blanket travel warning for European nations from June 15, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Wednesday, as the continent looks to further ease restrictions imposed to contain the corona-virus.

Germany introduced an unprecedented warning against all foreign travel in mid-March. But with new infections sharply down, the government is looking for ways to restart the economy.

“We have decided today that the travel warning for the named circle of countries will not be continued but replaced by travel advice,” Maas said, referring to EU nations, other Schengen countries and Britain.

The individual advice will be for a total of 31 nations, “provided that there are no longer any entry bans or large-scale lockdowns in the respective countries”, he said.

The advice could still include warnings against travel to certain countries, such as Norway and Spain, which still have their own entry restrictions in place.

Germany will be watching contagion data very carefully, Maas added, saying that warnings could be reintroduced if new infections were to reach 50 per 100,000 people in a week in the country concerned.

#Germany reported just 342 new cases of the corona-virus on Wednesday – down from more than 6,000 a day at the height of new infections in March.

The #Dutch government announced it will ease warnings against non-essential foreign travel from the same date.

#Belgium reopens borders to EU travelers

Belgium announced on Wednesday that it would reopen its borders to travelers from the European Union, Britain and members of Europe's passport-free travel zone on June 15.

Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes announced the measure as Belgium emerges from a three-month corona-virus lockdown, adding that bars and restaurants would reopen on June 8.

"From June 8 everything will be allowed, with exceptions," Wilmes told a news conference after a meeting of the country's national security council.

"The virus is still among us, it is still taking victims and will probably take more, and certainly if we are not vigilant," she added, saying large gatherings would remain banned until August 31. Nightclubs also cannot open before the end of August.

Wilmes said cultural activities would continue without spectators until July 1, when cinemas and other cultural spaces can open with a maximum of 200 people. Gyms can reopen from Monday, but with no access to changing rooms.

Belgium, where the European Union and NATO are headquartered, imposed its coronavirus lockdown on March 18. With 9,522 deaths from the outbreak, including in care homes, densely populated Belgium suffered one of the world's highest per capital tolls from Covid-19.

But cases have dropped off dramatically in recent days, with just 70 new confirmed  infections reported on Tuesday, down from around 700 hospitalizations a day in late March.

Phased restart

The EU set out plans in May for a phased restart of travel this summer, with border controls eventually lifted and measures to minimise the risks of infection, like wearing face masks on shared transport.

Some countries have already started reopening their borders in a bid to revive the embattled tourism industry.

Italy reopened to travelers from Europe on Wednesday, and Austria is lifting restrictions in mid-June with Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

German tour operator TUI said Wednesday it would be resuming flights to popular holiday destinations, with the first flight scheduled for Portugal on June 17, according to news site Business Insider (BI).

“Our main destinations will be the Balearic Islands, Canaries, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus,” TUI chief executive Marek Andryszak told BI.

However, the German foreign minister, Maas, continued to urge caution.

“I know that this decision raises great hope and expectations but I want to say again: travel warnings are not travel bans, and travel advice is not an invitation to travel,” Maas said.

He also warned that Germany would not be repeating its unprecedented and costly effort to rescue stranded Germans from around the world in the first weeks of the pandemic.

In Berlin, residents were divided over whether lifting the travel warning was a good idea.

“If I fly somewhere, I will be afraid about coming back again because maybe it will get worse and they will close the borders again,” said Berlin resident Regina.

Another, Henri, was more optimistic: “There are masks, so I'm not afraid. I mean, I don't understand what this is all about anyway.”

Germany still has a travel warning in place for Turkey, Ukraine and the Western Balkans.

The government will review this after an expected European Commission decision next week on whether to extend entry restrictions for citizens of third countries, Maas said.

(France 24 with AFP and Reuters)

South African Airways aims to resume domestic flights in mid-June

South African Airways (SAA) aims to resume domestic flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town from mid-June, the cash-strapped airline said on Tuesday, as corona.virus lockdown restrictions ease.

SAA, which is under a form of bankruptcy protection, suspended all commercial passenger flights in late March, when the government imposed one of the strictest lockdowns on the African continent.

But President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation on Sunday that domestic air travel for business purposes would be phased in after June 1, when the country moves to level 3 of a five-level alert system.

South Africa is currently on alert level 4, a tougher level of anti-corona-virus restrictions.

Ramaphosa did not give an exact date when business travelers would be able to fly domestically, and SAA said it was preparing to resume flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town when permissible.

It added it had decided to extend cancellations of all regional and intercontinental flights until the end of June.

"SAA is committed to restart further operations on an incremental basis, and will regularly provide updates on progress," the statement said.

Source - TheJakarkaPost

Finnair to resume long-haul flights to Asia in July

Finland's national airline will restart routes between Europe and Asia in July once countries begin to lift coronavirus restrictions on travel, the company announced on Monday.

Beijing and Shanghai will be the first long-haul destinations to reopen, alongside Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and three Japanese routes, Finnair said in a statement.

Flights to Delhi and New York will follow in August.

The move makes Finnair one of the first European carriers to restart intercontinental flights, after the Lufthansa Group announced on Friday it would resume 19 long-haul routes by early June.

"We expect aviation to recover gradually, starting in July," Finnair chief commercial officer Ole Orver said in a statement, adding that the company intends to bring its operations back to one-third of normal capacity.

Finnair cut 90 percent of its flights on April 1 and issued a profit warning as coronavirus restrictions brought international passenger travel almost to a standstill. 

Facemasks will be mandatory on all Finnair flights "until at least the end of August," Finnair spokeswoman Paivyt Tallqvist told AFP. 

"We have also taken a number of steps to avoid unnecessary movement on board," Tallqvist said, including having passengers disembark in smaller groups, and limiting capacity of shuttle bus transport between aircraft and the terminal to 50 percent.

Flights along the so-called "shorter northern route" between Helsinki and Asia, bypassing the Middle East, have been a key part of the Finnish carrier's growth strategy in recent years, with passenger numbers on its Asian routes doubling between 2010 and 2018.

On Monday, Finnair also announced it would restart 26 European routes in July, including to Brussels, Moscow, Prague and Paris.

Destinations including Rome, Madrid and Warsaw would be added in August, the firm said. 

Finnair said it would open further routes on a monthly basis depending on demand and how travel restrictions change over the summer.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Italy to reopen borders for EU tourists in early June

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Italy will reopen to European tourists from early June and scrap a 14-day mandatory quarantine period, the government said on Saturday, as it quickened the exit from the coronavirus lockdown.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also said on Saturday that gyms and cinemas would soon be able to welcome the public again, as the government seeks to restart economic activity while treading cautiously amid the lingering, though waning, coronavirus.

"We're facing a calculated risk in the knowledge that the contagion curve may rise again," Conte said during a televised address. "We have to accept it otherwise we will never be able to start up again."

Conte enforced an economically crippling shutdown in early March to counter a pandemic that has so far killed nearly 32,000 people in Italy.

The shutdown halted all holidaymaking in a country heavily dependent on the tourism industry.

Although Italy never formally closed its borders and has allowed people to cross back and forth for work or health reasons, it banned movement for tourism and imposed a two-week isolation period for new arrivals.

In March, the European Union banned foreign nationals from entering its Schengen zone, an open border zone comprising 22 of 27 member states, with exceptions for medical workers and essential travel.

But on Wednesday, the EU set out plans for a phased restart of summer travel, urging member states to reopen its internal borders, while recommending that external borders remain shut for most travel until at least the middle of June.

Beginning on June 3, visitors within the Schengen zone will be allowed to enter Italy with no obligation to self-isolate. Italians will also be able to move between regions, though local authorities can limit travel if infections spike.

Movements to and from abroad can be limited by regional decree "in relation to specific states and territories, in accordance with the principles of adequacy and proportionality to the epidemiological risk", the government said in a statement.

The latest decree is also a boon to Italy's agricultural sector, which relies on roughly 350,000 seasonal workers from abroad.

Farming lobby group Coldiretti said farms were already preparing to organie some 150,000 workers from places including Romania, Poland and Bulgaria.

Cannot await vaccine 
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The peak of Italy's contagion passed at the end of March but with experts warning a second wave cannot be ruled out, Conte had been reluctant to lift the lockdown quickly.

In his address, Conte said the country should ideally await a vaccine before opening up for business again, "but we can't afford it, we would end up with a strongly damaged economic and social structure".

His approach in recent weeks frustrated many of Italy's regions, with some already allowing businesses to reopen before the restrictions were lifted.

Restaurants, bars and hairdressers are being allowed to reopen on Monday, two weeks earlier than initially planned.

Shops will also open and Italians will finally be able to see friends, as long as they live within their same region.

Church services will begin again but the faithful will have to follow social distancing rules and holy water fonts will be empty. Mosques will also reopen.

Gyms, pools and sports centers will be able to open up again on May 25, Conte said on Saturday, provided they respect security protocols.

Theaters and cinemas will be allowed to reopen on June 15, he said.

Gatherings of large groups remain banned.

Source - TheJakartaPost

EU looks to save summer holiday

 The EU will present recommendations on Wednesday to save the summer season in Europe’s reeling tourism sector, which has been pounded by the coronavirus crisis.

The European Commission will urge EU countries to gradually reopen shuttered internal borders and to above all treat each member state on the same criteria.

According to a draft seen by AFP, the Commission insists that reopening of everyday life after the pandemic must be done in a "concerted" and "non-discriminatory" manner and must remain "as harmonious as possible".

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The points are only recommendations on the part of the EU's executive as it is up to national governments to decide whether to lift the restrictions put in place to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Brussels recommends that when countries are in a comparable epidemiological situation and have adopted the same precautionary measures, they should be treated in the same way.

If, for example, Austria opens its borders with Germany, it must also open its borders with the Czech Republic if that country is in a comparable situation to Germany.

Similarly, when a country opens its borders with another country, it must do so for all the residents of that country, whether or not they are nationals of that country. 

This issue of restoring freedom of movement within the passport-free Schengen area is crucial for European tourism, a sector which accounts for 10 percent of the EU's GDP and 12 percent of employment.

In some southern European countries, such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, this impact is even greater and if holidaymakers were to stay home, their already bad economic situation could worsen further.

In its recommendations, the commission also addresses the thorny issue of whether or not to reimburse cancelled trips and holidays.

Under EU rules, the European consumer is entitled to a cash refund, but many operators and airlines prefer to offer a credit instead.

"Carriers and tour operators should follow a common approach, offering passengers and travellers an attractive choice between a cash refund, in line with their rights under EU law, or the acceptance of a voucher," the document said.

Late last month, 12 European countries asked the European Commission to suspend the obligation for airlines to reimburse passengers whose journeys have been cancelled because of the coronavirus. 

Source - TheJakartaPost