Daily Roundup, September 22: Singapore fresh fish prices continue to rise; Putin prepares for long war in Ukraine, analyst says; Taiwan eyes ending COVID-19 quarantine
Let us give you a quick rundown of the day’s stories.
Average prices for fresh fish from Malaysia and Indonesia are up about 20 percent so far this year. Industry insiders expect prices to continue rising in the coming months as the monsoon season reduces supply while the upcoming holiday season intensifies demand.
Fewer commercial catches have made the situation worse, and the fish industry cites climate change as a factor in making supply unpredictable.
Costs for Indonesian fishermen have been even higher this month as fuel prices, which have soared since the Ukraine war, have risen by about 30 percent due to government rein in energy subsidies.
A seafood shop owner told CNA that some consumers have turned to cheaper options such as frozen or farmed fish. He added that some businesses absorb rising costs initially but pass the costs on to consumers once they are no longer sustainable.
Analysts say President Vladimir Putin has mobilized 300,000 reservists in a sign he is preparing for a protracted war in Ukraine.
The mobilization, Russia’s first since World War II, could be seen as an act of desperation that would prolong the war without altering its outcome, one expert said.
Others added that it was a sign of Putin’s acknowledgment that his invasion was not going as planned — with Russia facing a manpower shortage on the front line despite pending incentives to attract volunteer soldiers.
One analyst said that Russia’s reservists are unlikely to be a tough force because most have been out of service for a long time and Moscow needs to spend time and reserves training them. That could give Ukraine an opportunity to make further progress in regaining more territory, he said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has demanded that the United Nations punish Russia for the aggression and strip it of its veto power in the Security Council.
Taiwan aims to end mandatory COVID-19 quarantines for arrivals starting around October 13, and will begin easing other restrictions next week while continuing to open to the outside world.
Cabinet spokesman Luo Bingzheng told reporters that starting next Thursday (September 29), citizens of all countries will resume visa-free entry. The government will also increase the weekly entry limit for international travelers by 10,000 to 60,000 and will no longer conduct PCR tests on incoming passengers.
He said the government aimed to end the mandatory quarantine for all arrivals around October 13 if “everything is under control”.
A team of scientists in Singapore has developed a blood test kit that can tell in 10 minutes whether a person is immune to COVID-19 with 93% accuracy.
The kit was developed by teams from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
It requires a drop of blood and can detect whether a person has antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, within 10 minutes, compared with the 24 to 72 hours required for traditional laboratory tests.
Based on the antibodies detected in the test, it can tell how cautious a person should be about potential infection before boosting and when they should take the booster. The test kit could also be adapted to focus on new variants and other diseases in the future, the scientists said.
Further development of the test kit is ongoing to meet the necessary regulatory approvals and manufacturing standards for public use.
