ASIAN (E)

New York state is struggling to slow the spread of coronavirus in order to squeeze out time for the health care industry to ramp up capacity as total cases now exceed 10,000.“The estimates show 40 to 80 per cent of the population is going to be infected,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a briefing on Saturday. That means as many as 15.6 million people could become infected by the virus in the coming months.“The only question is: How fast is the rate of spread and can we slow the rate so the…



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Almost one billion people were confined to their homes worldwide Saturday as the global coronavirus death toll shot past 11,000 and US states rolled out stay-at-home measures already imposed across swathes of Europe.The fast-spreading pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, restricting movement, shutting schools and forcing millions to work from home.Around 30 per cent of Americans were adjusting to life in various phases of virtual lockdown – including in the US’s three…



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Hong Kong will make civil servants work from home again and postpone university entrance exams as the city faces a resurgent coronavirus threat because of imported and community-spread infections, the chief executive said at a Saturday night press conference.“It is a critical moment, as the flood of inbound residents is expected to last for two more weeks,” Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said, adding that the risk of a massive community outbreak was at its highest in two months.The move comes as…



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Chinese President Xi Jinping made an unusually intense diplomatic gesture towards Europe on Saturday by calling the leaders of France, Germany, Spain and Serbia to offer support in their fight against Covid-19.The calls came as many European nations are facing shortages of the essential medical supplies and equipment they need to combat the pandemic that has already killed more than 5,000 people across the continent.Italy has been the worst hit, with more than 4,000 people killed and over 47…



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Exaggerating the number of members and asking an employee to pose as a potential date were among the deceptive tactics used by a matchmaking agency in Hong Kong, a member of the city’s consumer watchdog said on Saturday.Consumer Council member Ramon Yuen Hoi-man, of the Democratic Party, said he had received at least 22 complaints involving more than HK$200,000 (US$26,000) against Mong Kok-based Loveaholic, alleging the firm made false service descriptions to con customers, something the firm’s…



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Two months since the novel coronavirus arrived in Singapore, the city state woke on Saturday to news of its first casualties after two patients died.In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sought to reassure the population but also warned of further deaths.“As we get more Covid-19 cases, more patients will need ICU care, and we must brace ourselves for more losses,” he wrote.Lee reminded Singaporeans that of the confirmed 385 cases, 131 have been discharged and “most are gradually…



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I can’t help feeling rather resentful about what’s happened over the past week in Hong Kong, and how we’ve squandered all the progress we were making in keeping a lid on coronavirus infections.For starters, I’ve been working from home since an unfortunate infection in the newsroom forced the closure of our headquarters at Times Square.On the flip side, social distancing is a critical part of the war against this scourge that is paralysing the world, and I’m fortunate to have a job that allows…



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Wheelock Properties’ second batch of flat sales in Hong Kong’s Tseung Kwan O district ran into the city’s biggest daily increase in confirmed coronavirus infections, a deterioration that kept an estimated 20 per cent of registered buyers at home.The developer sold 70 flats, or 69 per cent, of the 102 units on offer at its Ocean Marini project as of 4pm, according to sales agents, adding that Wheelock is unlikely to repeat last weekend’s sell-out launch.Nearly 2,300 people put down cheque…



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Hong Kong’s police chief has revealed that some complaints against officers over the months-long anti-government protests have been substantiated and put under review by the force’s watchdog.On Saturday, Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung said on a television programme that a number of cases were classified as “substantiated” after investigations by the Complaints Against Police Office, the force’s internal unit.“Some are substantiated, and some are unsubstantiated. Some are …



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Hong Kong authorities have said they are not considering using hotels to quarantine travellers as such places are “not ideal”, while tests on airport arrivals will be extended even to those with no symptoms, and conducted at the AsiaWorld-Expo.On Friday, the city recorded a new high of 48 coronavirus infections, prompting medical experts to warn that the influx of arrivals from overseas had raised the risk of another surge in Covid-19 cases, bringing the pandemic to its highest level yet in…



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