Coronavirus Asia
South Korean supergroup BTS suspends their world stadium tour

South Korea’s hugely successful music export, BTS, are suspending their world stadium tour over worries about the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Map to the Soul Tour, was to build on the back of the success of their latest album, Map to the Soul:7, one of this year’s biggest selling albums in the world and, underlining the achievement, its mostly in Korean.
The 7 member band had already postponed the North American leg of the tour. The tour was scheduled to kick off on April 25 with a Seoul stadium concert, but was cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. Last year’s Love Yourself tour grossed US$115,749,000 in ticket sales.
RM, Jin, V, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin and Jungkook had expressed their sincere disappointment over not being able to go ahead with the tour. Its have become seasoned live performers following 7 years of intense performance practice and are recognised as one of the most prolific and hardest working group of performers in the world. They recently topped the ratings in the US when performing live on some of the most popular TV shows when they launched their album.
Management, Big Hit Entertainment, said the scope of the tour and current restrictions made it very difficult to go ahead.
“Due to the nature of BTS concerts involving travel by thousands of international fans no matter where the performances are held; it is also difficult to resume the tour with the current strict restrictions on cross-border movement still in place.”
“Therefore, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the previously announced tour schedule and develop a new schedule.”
The suspension of the tour, which was due to include concerts in Europe, the US and Japan, comes as the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 3 million people globally. With most countries imposing travel restriction and lockdowns. Big Hit Entertainment said it would give details of a new tour schedule as soon as the situation became more clear.
The world’s biggest music streaming service said BTS had been the most streamed music group in Thailand last year. BTS had more than 3 billion streams. More than 14 million listeners in Thailand follow BTS each month. The Korean girl group Blackpink has 8 million followers a month, according to figures on its website.
Blackpink’s Kill This Love was the K-pop song most streamed in Thailand, followed by the BTS super hit Boy with Luv. Globally, the two songs switched positions, with Boy with Luv coming first, followed by Kill This Love.
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Coronavirus Japan
Tokyo Olympics may cost almost US$2 billion more due to Covid delay

The Tokyo Olympics may cost almost US$2 billion more than its original budget of US$13 billion, after it has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Olympic organisers say they will decide on the increased budget for the Games after communicating with Japan’s government and Tokyo. The Games were postponed by 1 year after Covid-19 spread worldwide, with its opening date set to July 23, 2021. Of all the events postposed because of Covid-19, the Olympics was the biggest and most complex to postpone.
Such a delay has yielded new costs, from retaining the organising staff, rebooking venues and transportation. Not to mention, the question of if the event can actually proceed safely. But Olympic officials are reaffirming that the Games can, indeed, be held following safety measures.
Such covid safety measures are reportedly another reason why the price of the event has increased, although the new estimated cost doesn’t include such measures. Officials say they are expecting the additional costs to be paid for by the Japanese government. Organisers and officials are reportedly considering a long list of possible virus countermeasures that they hope will make the Games possible, even if a vaccine is not yet available.
A dialed-down, lower-cost Olympics plan was announced in September, with banners, mascots, meals, and athlete welcome ceremonies being scrapped along with fewer free tickets to be offered. A senior official has said that Tokyo Olympics test events will resume in March with a decision on fan attendance to be made in the spring season.
Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee Chief says he is very confident that the Games will have attending fans. However, fan enthusiasm has decreased inside of Japan, with summer polls indicating only 1 in 4 Japanese people wanting the Games to happen, with most wanting them to be postponed or even fully cancelled.
So far, Tokyo has reported just over 40,000 cases of Covid, with Japan reporting 145,000 cases since the pandemic began.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Coronavirus Singapore
Singaporean woman gives birth to baby with Covid antibodies in system

A Singaporean woman has given birth to a baby with Covid antibodies in its system, giving new clues into whether Covid can be transferred from mother to child. The woman, Celine Ng-Chan, was infected with the virus in March during her pregnancy, and gave birth this month to her Covid-free baby.
“My doctor suspects I have transferred my Covid-19 antibodies to him during my pregnancy.”
The World Health Organisation says it is not yet known whether a pregnant woman with Covid-19 can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery.
Ng-Chan became mildly sick from the virus, but was discharged from the National University Hospital after 2.5 weeks. So far, the World Health Organisation says it is not yet known whether a pregnant woman can pass the virus to her fetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery, but this new finding helps researchers with new information. The active virus has not been found in samples of fluid around the fetus in the womb or in breast milk as of now, with Chinese doctors reporting such detection of antibodies in babies born to women, who have been infected with the virus, has been shown to decline over time.
New York Presbyterian/Columia University Irving Medical Centre has also reported in October, in JAMA Pediatrics, that the transmission of the virus from mothers to babies is rare, further pointing towards the risks being minimal of the possible transmission from mother to baby either in the womb, during delivery, or in breastfeeding.
Meanwhile, a 29 year old female Thai returnee from Myanmar has tested positive for Covid in Chiang Mai, after visiting the hospital with flu-like symptoms. She was the only local case reported, out of 5 other positive tests, with officials saying she is believed to have contracted the virus in Myanmar.
The positive test on November 27, came after she was out and about, with authorities saying 326 people are suspected of coming in contact with the woman. The woman reportedly visited a mall to eat Japanese shabu, watched a movie, visited a karaoke bar, and used public transportation before her positive diagnosis.
SOURCE: NDTV.com
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Coronavirus News & Updates
10 new cases of Covid today in Thailand, all in quarantine

Thailand has 10 new cases of Covid-19 reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). The infections were from those arriving from 8 different countries, with all being in quarantine. The new cases bring the total to 3,902 with the death toll remaining at 60. Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, US and India were the countries that the visitors have arrived from, with most having no symptoms upon entering Thailand.
A 55 year old from Germany who was a Dutch businessman tested positive in quarantine after arriving in Bangkok on November 6 without any symptoms.
A 30 year old Thai woman tested positive in quarantine with symptoms after arriving from Sweden on November 12 while a day later a 56 year old Swiss man tested positive after arriving from Switzerland with no symptoms. Another case was a 43 year old Thai masseuse who arrived from the Czech Republic on November 14. That person was also on the same flight as another previously confirmed case.
An engineer from Belgium tested positive after arriving on the same day as the Thai masseuse, and was on the same flight as another confirmed case. The Belgian displayed no symptoms. Again on the same day, a 15 year old Indian student tested positive after arriving in Bangkok. That student was also on a flight with a previously confirmed case.
2 Thai women, who also arrived on November 14 from the Netherlands tested positive. One was a 52 year old housewife with virus symptoms and the other was a 22 year old student with no symptoms. 2 more Thais returned from the US in which both tested positive on the same day as the others, with one displaying symptoms. The other, was a 61 year old retired official.
Globally, the amount of cases rose by 659,511 over the last 24 hours to 57.9 million. The death toll worldwide also rose to 1.37 million. The US remains as the country with the most cases, at 12.27 million, followed by India with just over 9 million. Thailand currently ranks 151st worldwide for the number of cases so far reported.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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