Health

Health • STORY OF THE DAY • 4 days ago • 3 min read

Covid-19 First Rohingya refugee dies from coronavirus in Bangladesh

By Shafiqul Alam/Agence France-Presse • 4 days ago
A Bangladeshi health official confirmed that a 71-year-old Rohingya refugee is the first recorded person to die from Covid-19 in the country's crowded refugee camps in Cox's Bazar

Health • STORY OF THE DAY • May 28, 2020 • 12 min read

UXO victims In Laos, survivors of US bombs rebuild their lives – and limbs

By Michael Hart • May 28, 2020
A nine-year US campaign from 1964-73 made Laos the most bombed nation on earth, contaminating millions of hectares of land with explosives. Five decades on, thousands of UXO victims, some recent and some from decades past, work to piece their lives together

Health • STORY OF THE DAY • May 28, 2020 • 2 min read

Covid-19 Thailand enters global race for vaccine with trials on monkeys

By Dene-Hern Chen and Anusak Konglang/AFP • May 28, 2020
Thailand has joined the global race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 as it has begun conducting tests on macaque monkeys this weekend, the National Primate Research Center of Thailand has announced

Health • STORY OF THE DAY • May 25, 2020 • 7 min read

Tales of the Pandemic A Cambodian student’s account of the virus emerging in Wuhan

By Soun Phannaroat • May 25, 2020
Like many, Cambodian student Soun Phannaroat didn't think much of December reports of a new virus spreading in Wuhan, the city in which she was studying. But as the weeks ticked on, the gravity of the situation became apparent, and she knew she needed to leave

Health • May 25, 2020 • 10 min read
Tales of the Pandemic

Humanitarian outreach for migrants on the Thai-Myanmar border

Mae Sot, a town on the Thai-Myanmar frontier home to a large Burmese migrant worker and refugee community, was hit hard in February when borders shut and supply routes were interrupted. Wayland Blue of the Shade Tree Foundation was part of an outreach team trying to mitigate these effects through a community outreach programme
By Wayland Blue

Health • May 21, 2020 • 2 min read
Covid-19

Robot dog on virus park patrol in Singapore

A yellow robot dog called Spot, which found fame online for dancing to Mark Ronson's hit song Uptown Funk, has been deployed to patrol a Singapore park and ensure people observe social distancing to stem the spread of Covid-19
By Agence France-Presse

Health • May 19, 2020 • 4 min read
Covid-19

In Indonesia, gravediggers are battling virus fears and stigma

In Indonesia, some 50 gravediggers at Pondok Ranggon cemetery – one of two earmarked for coronavirus victims in the capital Jakarta – are risking their health and confronting stigma as they work up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, for monthly wages of $290
By Haeril Halim/Agence France-Presse

Health • May 15, 2020 • 7 min read
Covid-19

Singapore’s social recession: Are the elderly the hardest hit?

As social distancing measures have been implemented in Singapore, many businesses have closed and the economy has suffered. But along with the financial hardship, there's also a social recession going on, impacting the city-state's already isolated elderly hardest
By Lee Ying Shan

Health • May 15, 2020 • 4 min read
Cox's Bazar

First Covid-19 case found in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi officials announced on May 15 that a first person tested positive in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. The world's largest refugee settlement and home to one million people living in overcrowded conditions, fears are that it will rapidly spread
By Shafiqul Alam and Sam Jahan/AFP

Health • May 11, 2020 • 10 min read
Tales of the Pandemic

My experience as Singapore’s Covid-19 case number 862

Unknowingly contracting and spreading Covid-19 to loved ones is a fear many among us carry. So when Singaporean citizen Reuben Lim tested positive in March with virtually no symptoms, the thought he had put his family at risk was a guilt he struggled to process
By Reuben Lim

Health • May 08, 2020 • 10 min read
Covid-19

As migrant mental health suffers in Singapore dorms, aid groups rally

As Singapore enters its 5th week of "circuit breaker" mode, the migrant workers quarantined in the city-state's dormitories are suffering under the psychological toll of isolation in squalid conditions and the ever-looming threat of contracting the virus
By Toh Ee Ming and Kelly Ng

Health • Apr 28, 2020 • 9 min read
Covid-19

As the pandemic takes hold, Singapore’s mental health suffers

While attempts to stem the spread of Covid-19 has led to the shutdown of virtually all economic and social activity in Singapore, life grinding to a halt in the city-state is giving rise to a different public health issue: poor mental health
By Kelly Ng