HUNTER MYERS WRITES – With its severe Covid control administration, did Beijing blunder – or show the way toward a viable epidemic control option for the future? China’s experience with Covid Zero policy, and its subsequent, rather sudden lifting, provides valuable insights for other countries. It shows the importance of…
Category: Coronavirus
HONG KONG: COVID-19 AND HAMSTER HAVOC
JARED SIVILA WRITES — After two long years, COVID-19 still rages on, plaguing the world not just with a contagious disease but with fear, paranoia, and absolute desperation. While some countries have reimplemented lockdown protocols, others have embraced a lax stance for the pandemic. Hong Kong appears to have clamped…
BOOK REVIEW: WE ARE SINGAPOREANS VOL. 1 BY MELANIE LEE AND LEE XIN LI (2021)
CADY ABE WRITES – Real heroes do not come with supernatural powers, unlike the glossy heroes from grandeur cinema and literature. Instead, everyday vigilantes are clad with hard-earned perseverance, passion, and drive to improve the fragile state of the world. In the unsettling and despairing time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the…
JAPAN: WILL GLOBAL TRAVELERS GET TO SEE THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS THIS YEAR?
BADER ZAINAL WRITES — Like many countries around the world, Japan has suffered significant negative impacts to its tourism industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, but signs of travel restrictions easing bring hope for recovery. The beauty and mystique of Japan have long enticed visitors from international locales, with tourism soaring…
OMICRON OBSTACLES: JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
KAMRAN ALISHOV WRITES — The latest, most mutated strain of coronavirus, known as the Omicron, now casts a shadow over Asia’s gradual reopening. According to research, this new version has a higher infection rate, posing a threat to nations around the world. Officials in South Africa first reported Omicron (B.1.1.529)…
COVID-19: MOLNUPIRAVIR IS MAKING ITS WAY TO ASIA…WE HOPE
BENJAMIN BARRETT WRITES – Although vaccine manufacture and distribution continue rolling out globally, it is important, still, to research treatment options for people who already have COVID-19. One option that has come to light recently is Molnupiravir. Molnupiravir is a drug created by the pharmaceutical company Merck. Essentially, Molnupiravir is…
THAILAND: PROTESTS AGAINST GOVERNMENT VACCINE POLICY CONTINUE TO SURGE
ALYSSA MONTALVO WRITES — More than a year has passed since the COVID-19 outbreak shook the world. Thailand, which was successfully keeping infection and death rates low early in the pandemic, is now sinking in an ocean of uncertainty. In Bangkok, citizens are outraged because of the government’s poor handling…
NEPAL: THE INTERRUPTED JOURNEY TO VACCINATION
CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES — As the delta variant ravages the world we thought could have been recovering from COVID-19 by now, some countries are feeling neglected. Vaccine development by countries in the West, China, and Russia have brought to light major disparities in access to healthcare. While citizens in the…
INDONESIA: WHERE CRAZY, RICH PEOPLE, POLITICS AND THE PRESS HELP SPREAD COVID
GABY RUSLI WRITES — Indonesia has become one of the world’s epicenters for COVID-19 in recent weeks. With a dramatic surge in cases-averaging 50,000 per day-as well as bed and oxygen scarcity, the country’s Third World history and residual characteristics have thrust it into an especially damaging, vulnerable position. While…
CAMBODIA: STRONG-ARM GOVERNMENT TACTICS BEAT BACK A PANDEMIC
LAMA ALTAHER WRITES — Who would have thought that Cambodia would have been successful in keeping the coronavirus outbreak under control? This country of one-party rule with few checks and balances, with an authoritarian Prime Minister criticized by other countries in Southeast Asia, with a far from free electoral system…
SOUTH KOREA: WHERE THE COVID BUST HAS CREATED A GOLF BOOM
CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES — The pandemic has forced South Koreans to look within the country for their golf fix. South Koreans are avid sports and outdoors enthusiasts. Their golfing population has continually been on the rise, despite declines in other golfing countries like the United States. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has strained the…
ASIAN-AMERICANS: HOME DOES NOT FEEL LIKE HOME TO AN ASIAN AMERICAN YOUNG MAN
JONAR COWAN WRITES — I am a 23-year-old Asian American raised in San Francisco for the majority of my life. San Francisco felt safe and accepting while I was growing up because I rarely experienced racism or anything that insulted my Asian heritage. In fact, I grew prideful of my…
ASIAN AMERICANS: AS COVID-19 SURGED, ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT INFECTED AMERICA
SHAE KUROKAWA WRITES — Nearly a year since the United States began experiencing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, violent attacks against Asian-Americans have alarmingly increased. At the start of this new year, San Francisco’s Bay Area reported a handful of xenophobic assaults against Asian-Americans, many of whom were elderly.…
JAPAN: SOMETHING’S FISHY IN THE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT BUSINESS
MILES WHITTINGHAM WRITES — Japanese cuisine is among the most popular in the world. But the Japanese fish market has been hit especially hard among the multitude of things affected by COVID-19. The most extensive wholesale fish trade located in Tokyo, Toyosu, has seen its sales halved in recent months.…
INDONESIA: CORONAVIRUS CRISIS TURNS INTO COMPOUNDED CATASTROPHE
KEZIA LAKSMONO WRITES — My home country is known for many cultural myths and rich folklore. I’ve always been skeptical of such stories. But folklore about New Year’s Day weather? For me, that’s always been an exception. Historically, rain comes pouring down on the city of Jakarta – the place…
CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES: UPS AND DOWNS OF 2020, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
SARAH SHARPE WRITES — How did we get here? It is September of 2020. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that this has been one of the most challenging years of my life. It feels as though everything has gone awry, and I know there is still more…