SEOUL: The health ministers of South Korea, China and Japan will get together by video conference on Friday to discuss ways to work together in the global campaign against the novel coronavirus, South Korean officials said.
The meeting is the first between top health officials of the East Asian neighbors since the outbreak emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
“The ministers will exchange views on the latest COVID-19 situation and related policy of each country,” South Korea’s Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing, referring to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
“We’re planning to introduce our work on information sharing, special entry procedures and large-scale treatment facilities.”
All three countries are optimistic they have got their outbreaks under control and are looking to get their economics back on track while keeping a wary eye out for any second waves of infection.
China’s Wuhan is seeking to test all of its 11 million residents for the coronavirus after a small cluster of new cases stoked fears after a long lockdown was lifted.
Japan lifted a state of emergency in large swaths of the country on Thursday but major cities remain under restrictions and new testing indicated the outbreak in Tokyo was wider than the figures showed.
South Korea, which suffered the first major outbreak outside China, has been held up as a coronavirus mitigation success story, bringing its daily rate of cases down to near zero without major disruptions, thanks to intensive testing and contact tracing.
But a recent spike in infections linked to nightclubs and bars in some Seoul nightlife districts has led to the re-closing of some night spots and the postponement of the opening of schools by a week.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on Friday reported 27 new cases as of midnight on Thursday, taking the total to 11,018. South Korea’s death toll remained unchanged at 260.
Seventeen of the daily tally were traced to the clubs, while five were imported cases, Kim said.
Authorities are scrambling to find some 2,000 nightclub customers with the help of mobile phone location data and CCTV footage after information many of them provided in line with quarantine rules turned out to be incomplete or false.
“We’re seeing secondary and tertiary infections linked to the clubs,” Kim said.
“If you hide your movements or provide inaccurate accounts, it will slow our efforts to find infections, spread community transmissions and make it difficult for us to maintain our current management system.”
South Korea, China, Japan to hold video meeting on coronavirus
https://arab.news/4ahy8
South Korea, China, Japan to hold video meeting on coronavirus
- Meeting is the first between top health officials of the East Asian neighbors
Bangladesh’s Yunus announces resignation, end of interim govt
- Yunus handed over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader Tarique Rahman
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus stepped down on Monday in a farewell broadcast to the nation before handing over to an elected government.
“Today, the interim government is stepping down,” the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said.
“But let the practice of democracy, freedom of speech, and fundamental rights that has begun not be halted.”
Yunus returned from self-imposed exile in August 2024, days after the iron-fisted government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown by a student-led uprising and she fled by helicopter to India.
“That was the day of great liberation,” he said. “What a day of joy it was! Bangladeshis across the world shed tears of happiness. The youth of our country freed it from the grip of a demon.”
He has led Bangladesh as its “chief adviser” since, and now hands over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Tarique Rahman on a “landslide victory” in elections last week.
“The people, voters, political parties, and stakeholder institutions linked to the election have set a commendable example,” Yunus said.
“This election has set a benchmark for future elections.”
Rahman, 60, chief of the BNP and scion of one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, will lead the South Asian nation of 170 million.
‘Rebuilt institutions’
Bangladeshi voters endorsed sweeping democratic reforms in a national referendum, a key pillar of Yunus’s post-uprising transition agenda, on the same day as the elections.
The lengthy document, known as the “July Charter” after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, proposes term limits for prime ministers, the creation of an upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
“We did not start from zero — we started from a deficit,” he said.
“Sweeping away the ruins, we rebuilt institutions and set the course for reforms.”
The referendum noted that approval would make the charter “binding on the parties that win” the election, obliging them to endorse it.
However, several parties raised questions before the vote, and the reforms will still require ratification by the new parliament.
The BNP alliance won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, according to the Election Commission.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman conceded on Saturday, saying his party would “serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition.”
Newly elected lawmakers are expected to be sworn in on Tuesday, after which Tarique Rahman is set to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister.
Police records show that political clashes during the campaign period killed five people and injured more than 600.
However, despite weeks of turbulence ahead of the polls, voting day passed without major unrest and the country has responded to the results with relative calm.
