Domestic Politics
Malaysia's Health Ministry's secretary-general, Dr. Chen Chaw Min, announced that all government health personnel have been banned from traveling abroad. [The Star]
Thailand's Labour Minister, Chatu Mongol Sonakul, warned Thais returning from illegal work in South Korea to report for quarantine or be banned from working abroad in the future. [Bangkok Post]
International Relations
The Singapore Armed Forces will reduce its overseas training deployments and exercises after 4 RSAF servicemen contracted the coronavirus in France. [Today Online]
Thailand cancelled visas on arrival for 18 countries and visa exemptions for 3 countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus. [Bangkok Post]
Economy
After the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration that the coronavirus outbreak is now a 'pandemic', Singapore's stock market plummeted by over 4% to 2,666.05, the lowest point since March 2016. As a open and small economy, Singapore is highly vulnerable to external shocks. [Channel News Asia]
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower's latest data shows that the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons fell from 1.09 in December 2018 to 0.84 in December 2019, indicating that there were less jobs on offer. Labor productivity fell by 1.5 in 2019, the first drop in a decade. The ministry insists this was due to slow economic growth and increasing employment growth. In fact, the long-term unemployment rate for residents remained stagnant at 0.7%. [Straits Times]
Health
Thailand reported 11 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the country's total to 70. The new patients had been in close contact with an infected tourist from Hong Kong. [Channel News Asia]
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte issued a pubic health emergency after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country reached 24. The country's Department of Health (DOH) admitted that it is relatively ill-equipped to test for infections. [Inquirer]
Image Source: The New Republic
