😷 Asean's in the thick of it

Hello friends!

I forgot to mention last week that there’d be no Monday blast because I went to a very interesting event about the region in a hotel much nicer than I should’ve been allowed into. That was probably the quietest I’ve ever been at any event ever, but sometimes you need to just sit silently slack-jawed for a few hours in a room with a couple of dozen people much smarter than you. That’s left my brain a bit sore so while I’m very interested in the economic fall-out of the coronavirus I’m holding it over for now.

Another thing I noticed is: a lot of the smarties I follow on Twitter aren’t Australians like I thought they were. 

As usual, if you’d like to join us on a premium subscription $60 a year/$6 a month and all Asean (and Timor) nationals under 30 are eligible for a free membership just hit that reply:

There is a lot to update on the coronavirus since we first began to crack on January 26. So where are we at the start of February? 

See you Friday,Erin Cook

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Timor-Leste still, thankfully, has no recorded cases but has begun screening travellers arriving by land, sea and air. 

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Travellers who have visited Hubei province, home of Wuhan, within the last 14 days are banned from entering Brunei from January 30 until further notice. Health Minister Dr Hj Mohammad Isham Hj Jaafar confirms there are still no known cases in the Sultanate. 

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Myanmar hasn’t yet had a confirmed case but has tightened borders in anticipation. Chinese nationals are no longer eligible for Visas on Arrival. The announcement comes after a Chinese tourist was taken to a hospital in Yangon over fears he had the virus, but testing returned from Thailand is all clear. Phew! 

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It’s a touch complicated in Laos, where the media blackhole is making it difficult to understand what’s up. NPR reports Chinese tourists were not crossing a usually busy border point along the Mekong, while RFA says class is out for several private schools. 

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Cambodia currently has one confirmed case, a Chinese national who had flown from Wuhan to Sihanoukville, but its the response that is interesting. Unlike virtually every other country on earth, Prime Minister Hun Sen has no intention of organising repatriation of Cambodians in the Hubei province demanding instead they stay on to ‘fight’ the virus alongside the Chinese.

Those "who are currently working or studying in China, including those in Wuhan, have to remain there and join the Chinese people to fight this disease. Don't run away from the Chinese people during this difficult time," he said, as quoted by VOA. 

Hun Sen’s reasoning seems to be wholly economic, noting that it’s important to Cambodia’s economic interests to keep solidarity with China. “Don’t discriminate against Chinese people,” he said in the press conference last Thursday. Which is an honourable position if it weren’t ‘don’t discriminate against Chinese investors in lieu of protecting nationals.’ 

Still, he’s putting his money where his face mask is. Kinda. Hun Sen says he’ll fly today from Seoul to China. He said earlier this week he’d get to Wuhan to meet with Cambodian nationals there, but it looks like he won’t be moving beyond Beijing. He’s secured a meet with both Premier Li Keqiang AND President Xi Jingping so that’s quite the hustle. 

I’d be very interested in analysis on this in the coming days. We’ve had a few looks at Trump and Hun Sen extending friendly, if not a touch reticent, hands but visiting the big two when Asia is deeply scared ooh boy. I’m not a fan of the pick/choose but come on! 

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Singapore has had a marked increase in its toll since we last spoke. The toll has climbed six people, including four human to human transmissions. Health authorities say it’s not that big of a deal just yet, that while human to human transmission sounds scary and does have the potential to spiral they are isolated incidences. One of these four is an Indonesian domestic worker who works for a previously known case.

Weird Asean+3 case, a Korean man has tested positive for the virus in Seoul after meeting a Malaysian national later confirmed to have the virus in Singapore. 

Singapore differs dramatically from other parts of the region, of course, when it comes to China and talking about China. But that hasn’t shielded Singaporeans originally from Wuhan from experience discrimination. “People are generally irrational when they become fearful. They will do extreme actions to protect themselves,” Ms Chen, a naturalised Singaporean not using her name, told the site. She’s trying hard to avoid her 20 or so friends from the city in case they’ve recently met with relatives or other friends who carry the virus. 

I had a teeny look at how the fake news laws are being deployed at the moment. This was written right at the start so could probably be a standalone now. 

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When we last spoke Malaysia had a handful of cases, but all Chinese nationals who had recently arrived in the country. Well, remember that Asean +3 crack? That poor bloke has become Malaysia’s first case. His family has been placed under “home surveillance” while he undergoes treatment and, frankly, I’m impressed with the ‘relax, we’re good at this and we’ve got it’ response from the Malaysian healthcare community. A further 20 people are currently being tested, but I’m not certain the passport breakdown of that figure. 

Here’s a heart-warmer. The snaps of a four-year-old girl from China leaving a Langkawi hospital after getting over the virus are cute. It’s not just cute but also super important Malaysians see this, Health Director Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah says. There is a perception that the virus is fatal after contraction and a happy, healthy girl with her parents show that’s not the case. 

Talk of repatriation and possible bans on Chinese nationals entering the country have gone very quiet. Where’s Mahathir? 

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Truly, I think Indonesia is waiting for the other shoe to drop. There are a lot of questions about capacity to identify, public health infrastructure and what’s a reasonable response. There are still no confirmed cases which for a much smaller country would be a blessing, but for Indonesia raises worries about identification. The Jakarta Post has an excellent timeline of suspected cases and testings. A travel ban came into effect today, with Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi saying it is in line with other countries post WHO announcement. 

Fake news and social media hoax punters are in big trouble. 

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Coronavirus is about to become Thailand’s biggest economic story since the baht started over-flexing. As noted in the intro, we’ll crack into the economics of it all shortly. But in terms of contractions, authorities report six new patients bringing the toll to 25. Four of those cases are Thai, with the other two Chinese. I really like this one from Coconuts Bangkok which hits every part you could want to know. 

A taxi driver became the first Thai to contract it via human to human transmission (after driving an infected woman to the hospital) has been released, which I’m so pleased to hear! He is 70-years-old and already had tuberculosis poor bloke.

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The Philippines needs a big, big, BIG look so I’m pulling the archipelago. Will have more shortly! Just know, the country confirmed the third case today and had the first death outside of China.