Thailand on the Rebound

The Omicron variants – and whatever else Covid-19 may deign to throw at us in the year ahead – notwithstanding, Thailand now appears ready to turn things around, both in terms of tourism and in terms of getting the economy back on track in general.

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Vietnam Update Oct 4: Ho Chi Minh City’s first weekend under the new normal

After months of some form of a lockdown, Vietnam’s largest city and epicenter of the country’s fourth Covid wave, Ho Chi Minh City, enjoyed its first weekend under relaxed restrictions. A sense of normalcy is returning, yet Vietnam’s Covid-19 battle is far from over. The following is Access Asia’s latest update on the situation in Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. On Friday afternoon, Ho Chi Minh City’s overarching new pandemic rules got an official name: Directive 18. This codified the sweeping loosening of restrictions and the impact this weekend was as […]

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Vietnam Update August 27: Vaccine diplomacy with another health twist

As Vietnam continues to battle major Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, in which strict containment measures have shuttered economy activity, supply chains and of course people’s livelihoods, an interesting form of vaccine diplomacy occurred earlier this week with another health-related twist – Havana Syndrome. On Tuesday, there was a three hour delay in the flight departure of US Vice President Kamala Harris flying from Singapore to Hanoi due to a report of a “recent possible anomalous health incident” in Hanoi. The incident is being investigated by the US as possible cases of Havana Syndrome, the term used for a rash […]

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Vietnam Update: Lockdowns extended as limited headway is made in Covid-19 fight

As Vietnam continues to  battle major Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country, strict lock-downs have been extended, with Ho Chi Minh City extending its current lock-down for at least one more month. Unfortunately, despite strict containment measures and a rapid vaccination roll-out program, the country is making limited headway against the Delta variant in this fourth wave of Covid cases in Vietnam.  Here is Access Asia’s Monday update on the situation in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. Data update Last Thursday night, this outbreak’s COVID-19 case total was 242,552, with 152,561 active infections. Those figures […]

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Vietnam Update: August 9

Vietnam is battling major Covid-19 outbreaks throughout the country as the Delta variant unleashes its havoc on a country that up until a few months ago  had been mostly spared from the pandemic. Here is Access Asia’s Monday update in collaboration with Vietnam Weekly, a subscription-based publication covering current affairs in Vietnam. The latest data Last Thursday night, this outbreak had accounted for 185,004 cases of community transmission, a figure that is now 206,439 (135,462 of which are active). In a concerning development yesterday set a new single-day case record, 9,684. Vietnam had gone over a week without breaking any records. […]

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