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China virus epicentre eases travel restrictions after lockdown
By Jing Xuan TENG
Wuhan, China (AFP) March 30, 2020

Asia virus latest: China epicentre starts to reopen, security talks off
Hong Kong (AFP) March 28, 2020 - Here are the latest developments from Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic:

- Wuhan eases travel rules -

Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus first emerged last year, partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of near total isolation for its population of 11 million.

People are now allowed to enter Wuhan but not leave. State media showed the first officially sanctioned passenger train arriving there just after midnight.

The city in Hubei province was placed under lockdown in January with roadblocks ring-fencing its outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life.

- Security talks cancelled -

A top Asian security conference that gathers defence ministers -- including from the US and China -- and senior military officials was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The Shangri-La Dialogue, held annually since 2002, had been scheduled for early June in Singapore with more than 40 countries set to participate.

But its organiser, the London-based think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies, said it had decided to cancel this year's event "in light of the serious challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic" such as travel restrictions imposed by many nations.

- Indian migrants walk home -

Thousands of migrant workers in India, left jobless and penniless by the full shutdown of the country, are walking long distances back to their home villages after all transport was stopped except for essential services.

Huge numbers had crammed onto trains and buses before the country of 1.3 billion people ground to a halt for three weeks, but many others were left stranded.

"Rather than die hungry, we decided to walk," said Dilipji Thakor, who worked at a now-shuttered shopping mall in Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, as he trudged along a road.

- South Korea recoveries -

More than 50 percent of South Korea's 9,478 confirmed coronavirus cases have now recovered, authorities said Saturday.

The figures are "a small achievement that our entire society can celebrate together", disaster agency official Yoon Tae-ho said.

Once the hardest-hit country outside China, South Korea appears to have brought its outbreak under control thanks to its huge "trace, test and treat" strategy.

It has tested more than 380,000 people in a process that is free to anyone referred by doctors or those who have links to a confirmed case.

- Aussie local election goes ahead -

People in the Australian state of Queensland were urged to vote in local elections or face a fine of Aus$133 ($80), as polls went ahead despite most citizens being encouraged to stay home to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The state's top health official said it was safe to vote in person as long as people followed social distancing guidelines.

Many of the three million eligible voters had cast their ballot early, or remotely by post or telephone. But long queues were reported outside some booths on Saturday due to limits on the number of people allowed inside at once.

- Police officer tested after alleged spitting -

An Australian police officer is being tested for COVID-19 after a 25-year-old woman arrested for speeding allegedly spat and coughed in their face.

The woman -- who allegedly fled from a traffic stop in Sydney at more than double the speed limit -- claimed she was on her way to be tested for the virus, police said. Although the woman was not showing any symptoms, the officer is now undergoing testing.

It is the latest of several reported incidents of people maliciously coughing towards others as the outbreak spreads in the country.

The Chinese city of 11 million people that was Ground Zero for what became the global coronavirus pandemic partly reopened on Saturday after more than two months of almost total isolation.

Wuhan was placed under lockdown in January with residents forbidden to leave, roadblocks ring-fencing the city's outskirts and drastic restrictions on daily life.

But the major transport and industrial hub has now signalled the end of its long isolation, with state media showing the first officially sanctioned passenger train arriving back into the city just after midnight.

People are now allowed to enter but not leave, and many trains had been fully booked days in advance.

AFP saw crowds of passengers arriving at Wuhan station on Saturday, most wheeling suitcases alongside them.

Some had managed to slip back into the city a day earlier on rail services that were stopping in the city -- but nominally banned passengers from disembarking -- as enforcement of the travel ban began to ease.

One woman who arrived on Friday said she and her daughter had been away from her husband for nearly 10 weeks.

"As the train neared Wuhan, my child and I were both very excited," the 36-year-old told AFP on Saturday.

"It felt like the train was moving faster than before, and my daughter said the driver must know we really want to go home.

"She rushed toward her father, and watching them from behind I couldn't help but cry," she added.

Staff at Wuhan station were all clad in full protective gear with reception desks lined up ready to process returnees who had been overseas.

China is now battling to control a wave of imported cases as infections soar abroad.

As passengers lined up to exit the station Saturday -- some wearing two face masks, gloves, face screens or full protective suits -- a worker in a hazmat suit shouted for anyone returning from overseas to come forward.

All arrivals in Wuhan have to show a green code on a mobile app to prove that they are healthy.

Elsewhere in China long lines of travellers queued up at train stations to board high-speed services back to Wuhan.

Passengers in Shanghai had their temperatures checked by staff in goggles and masks after boarding their Saturday morning service.

Restrictions on residents heading out of Wuhan will not be lifted until April 8, when the airport will also reopen for domestic flights.

Wuhan is the last area of Hubei province to see overland travel restrictions lifted, although some highways leading into the city had already reopened this week.

Gao Xuesong, a worker in Wuhan's auto industry, arrived in the city Friday night.

"It almost feels like returning to an alien land, because I haven't been back for more than two months," he told AFP.

- Zero cases, not zero risk -

The new coronavirus was detected in December and has been linked to a market in the city that sold wild animals for human consumption.

Wuhan has paid a heavy price for the outbreak, with more than 50,000 people infected and more COVID-19 deaths than any other city in China.

There were three more deaths in the city on Saturday, health officials reported.

Wuhan initially struggled to contain the outbreak and AFP reporters saw long queues of sick patients at one overwhelmed city hospital in January.

But numbers have fallen dramatically in recent weeks. Official figures show there have been fewer than 20 new cases across the province in the past fortnight.

Most of Wuhan's subway network restarted on Saturday, while some shopping centres will open their doors next week.

Banks reopened earlier this week and bus services resumed but residents have been warned against unnecessary travel and those over 65 have been told to avoid public transport.

A study this week found the lockdown in Wuhan succeeded in stopping the fast-spreading virus in its tracks and gave health care facilities crucial breathing room -- but warned against opening up the city too soon.

More than 2,500 people are still hospitalised with the disease in Wuhan, including nearly 900 "severe" cases.

Liu Dongru, of the Hubei Health Commission, said Friday that although parts of Wuhan had been reclassified as "low-risk" areas, work to control the virus needed to continue.

"Zero reported cases does not equal zero risk," he said.


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TRADE WARS
Singapore GDP contracts sharply, in warning for virus-hit global economy
Singapore (AFP) March 26, 2020
Singapore's economy suffered its biggest contraction since the financial crisis during the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic escalated, data showed Thursday, an ominous sign of the devastation being inflicted on the global economy. The finance minister meanwhile announced Sg$48 billion (US$33 billion) in fresh stimulus, taking to about Sg$55 billion the amount so far pledged by the government to help the export-reliant financial hub weather the downturn. One of the world's most open econ ... read more

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