Almost 500 students at China’s premier college for broadcast journalists have been sent to a quarantine center after a handful of COVID-19 cases were detected in their dormitory.
The 488 students at Communication University of China, along with 19 teachers and five assistants, were transferred by bus beginning on Friday night.
Quarantining anyone considered to have been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus has been a pillar of China’s “zero COVID-19” policy. The quarantine centers include field hospitals, as well as converted stadiums and exhibition centers that have been criticized for overcrowding, poor sanitation and spoiled food.
As of last week, about 65 million Chinese residents were under lockdown, despite just 1,248 new cases of domestic transmission being reported yesterday. Most of those were asymptomatic.
The lockdowns have sparked protests online and confrontations with health workers and police, and have exacted a major toll on the economy, affecting global supply chains for electronics and other products.
The weeks-long lockdown in China’s biggest city of Shanghai over the summer prompted an exodus of migrant workers and foreign businesspeople, the repercussions of which have yet to be felt.
In Hong Kong, stringent COVID-19 curbs have long made life for school students extremely hard. Now, a new rule requiring higher vaccination levels could upend what progress has been made toward resuming full-day in-person classes.
Further delays to normal school life are likely to exacerbate youth mental health problems as well as give more people reason to leave the territory, further undermining its status as an Asian financial hub, educators and business leaders said.
“There is so much uncertainty over whether classes are going to be canceled, can the kids go to school? The school uncertainty is definitely helping to drive people away and it makes it hard to attract people to Hong Kong,” Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong Chairman Robert Quinlivan said.
About 30,000 students withdrew from Hong Kong schools in the past academic year and more than 5,000 teachers resigned, government data showed.
Many are part of an exodus kick-started by Beijing’s efforts to exert greater control over the territory and which has been further fueled by COVID-19 curbs.
Additional reporting by Reuters
China on Sunday hit back at the US for expanding military access in the Philippines, saying that Washington was trying to “encircle and contain” Beijing, and is “driving a wedge” between the two Asian nations. The Chinese embassy said the US was moving to “secure its hegemony and selfish geopolitical interests.” Involving the Philippines “will seriously harm” the nation’s interest and endanger regional peace and stability, the embassy said in a statement responding to a recent interview with the US ambassador in Manila. The Philippines last month gave the US access to four more military bases under the countries’ Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement,
Less than two months ago, the first music video by South Korean girl quartet MAVE: went viral, racking up nearly 20 million views on YouTube and setting the stage for potential global success. At first glance, MAVE: looks like any other idolized K-pop band — except it only exists virtually. Its four members — Siu, Zena, Tyra and Marty — live in the metaverse, their songs, dances, interviews and even their hairstyles created by Web designers and artificial intelligence. “When I first saw MAVE:, it was a little confusing to tell whether they were humans or virtual characters,” said Han Su-min, a 19-year-old
Philippine vlogger Rosanel Demasudlay holds a heart-shaped “virginity soap” bar in front of the camera and assures her hundreds of YouTube followers that it can be safely used to “tighten” their vaginas. The video is part of a barrage of bogus and harmful medical posts on social media platforms where Filipinos rank among the world’s heaviest users. Even before COVID-19 pandemic restrictions confined people to their homes and left them fearful of seeing a doctor, many in the Philippines sought remedies online because they were cheaper and easier to access. During the pandemic, the Agence France-Presse’s (AFP) Fact Check team saw an explosion
‘JAW-DROPPING MOMENT’: Michelle Yeoh in her Oscars speech dedicated her award to her mother and said ‘all the moms in the world’ were the real superheroes Michelle Yeoh’s mother cried for joy for her “little princess” when the Malaysian performer became the first Asian to win the best actress Oscar. Yeoh’s family and two Malaysian Cabinet ministers were among the supporters roaring with joy at Yeoh’s win during a special Academy Awards viewing party in Malaysia on Monday morning. Her trophy for her performance as a laundromat owner was one of seven Oscars for Everything Everywhere All at Once, including best picture. Janet Yeoh, 84, praised the actor as intelligent and hardworking, and a filial daughter. “I so love my daughter and she has made Malaysia proud,” Janet Yeoh
RSS