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Is Covid-19 terminal for the rising middle classes of Malaysia and Indonesia? A woman sits on an art installation at Trans Studio in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters
Before Covid-19 hammered the Malaysian economy, Kuala Lumpur native Jeremy Johnson, 43, made 7,000 ringgit (US$1,670) a month as the general manager of a coffee company and even had a car as part of his work benefits. His family of six were firmly entrenched in the middle class - what Malaysia calls the M40, for the 40 per cent of households considered middle income , defined as those earning 4,850 ringgit to 10,959 ringgit a month.
But movement restrictions forcing people to work from home and cautious spending from consumers hit his company hard and Johnson lost his job in August last year. Since he was the sole breadwinner, that one change swept his family into the low-income group. He is unable to access government handouts and relies on assistance from his family and friends from church.
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Bookings for Covid-19 vaccinations in Hong Kong, especially for the Chinese-made Sinovac jab, have surged significantly on the back of a HK$10.8 million (US$1.4 million) flat lottery and the offer of doses to visitors from across the border. On Friday, more than 10,500 people reserved Sinovac slots - the highest since March 17 - while the 15,100 bookings for the BioNTech jab also marked a strong showing within a three-week span for the.
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Singapore’s Covid-19 hospital cluster, reinfected migrant workers and ‘viral shedding’ – causes for concern? Singapore’s financial district skyline is seen reflected in a lotus pond on April 28. Photo: EPA
After months of reporting few if any locally transmitted cases, Singapore has in recent weeks seen reinfections among migrant workers who had previously recovered from Covid-19, as well as reports of people catching the coronavirus despite being vaccinated against it.
A new infection cluster emerged in a public hospital this week involving 13 health care workers and patients, while seven other local cases have been linked to an airport immigration officer.