ประกาศใบปิดไทยออกมาเป็นที่เรียบร้อยกับภาพยนตร์สารคดีฉลองชัยชนะในรอบ 30 ปี ของทีมฟุตบอลลิเวอร์พูล “The End of The Storm” ที่จะพาทั้งแฟนหงส์และแฟนหนังไปร่วมสัมผัสประสบการณ์การเดินทางฝ่าฟันอุปสรรคครั้งใหญ่ในฤดูกาลที่โลกไม่เหมือนเดิมไปจนถึงปลายทางความสำเร็จการคว้าแชมป์พรีเมียร์ลีกในฤดูกาล 2019-20 ผ่านฝีมือการกำกับของ เจมส์ เออร์สคีน (The Ice King, Billie, One Night in Turin, Le Mans: Racing is Everything) ร่วมถึงได้ เจอร์เกน คลอปป์ ผู้จัดการทีม และ เคนนี่ ดัลกลิช ตำนานสโมสรมาร่วมถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวที่ไม่เคยมีใครรู้ และยิ่งกว่านั้นการสัมภาษณ์สุดพิเศษจากนักเตะชุดใหญ่ของทีม ไม่ว่าจะเป็น จอร์แดน เฮนเดอร์สัน, ซาดิโอ มาเน่, โรเบอร์โต้ เฟอร์มิโน่, เวอร์จิล ฟาน ไดค์ และ อลิสซอน เบ็คเกอร์
เหล่าแฟน ๆ นับวันรอเตรียมพบกับเรื่องราวสุดเอ็กซ์คูลซีฟของทีมลิเวอร์พูลที่จะมาเปิดเผยเป็นที่แรกของโลกใน “The End of The Storm” ภาพยนตร์ที่แฟนลิเวอร์พูลต้องดูสักครั้งในชีวิต
Foreign visitor entry, Go To Travel suspensions begin in Japan
Dec 29. 2020Few travelers are seen at the international terminal lobby of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Monday morning. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
By The Japan News/ANN
The suspensions of the entry of foreign visitors and the Go To Travel campaign began Monday.
The government is hoping to prevent the spread of infections with a new variant of the novel coronavirus from overseas by putting the entry ban into force through the end of January.
Furthermore, the government is asking people to refrain from travel during the year-end and New Year holidays by temporarily halting the tourism promotion campaign through Jan. 11.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga emphasized that the entry ban was an action he had taken at an early stage.
“I gave instructions on the policy on Saturday in order to deal with the situation ahead of time,” he said on Monday morning responding to questions from reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office. “I would like to ask the public to take thorough measures against infection such as washing their hands and wearing masks. I hope they have quiet year-end and New Year holidays.”
The government had allowed foreign students and expatriates to enter since October on an exceptional basis. After the spread of the new variant, the government had suspended entries from Britain and South Africa, and on Monday it extended the suspension to all countries.
Business personnel traffic with 11 countries and regions, including China and South Korea, will continue according with bilateral agreements. However, if the variant of the virus spreads, the government will consider suspending it.
On the other hand, the return of Japanese nationals from overseas and the reentry of foreign nationals with resident status will continue to be permitted. But travelers returning or reentering Japan from a short-term business trip are again being required to quarantine at home or elsewhere for 14 days again.
■ Domestic flight bookings
Due to the surge in domestic infection numbers, the Go To Travel campaign has been suspended for the first time since it started in July.
The suspension is scheduled to last for 15 days, until Jan. 11, but may be extended depending on the future infection situation.
There were few passengers returning to their hometowns or going on trips at the domestic terminal of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Monday morning, despite the year-end holiday season. The electronic board was lined with announcements of flight cancellations.
The number of bookings for domestic flights from Dec. 25 to Jan. 3 fell sharply to 801,113 for All Nippon Airways, down 42.4% from the previous year, and 511,965 for Japan Airlines Group, down 51.5%, it was announced on Dec. 18.
There was no noticeable congestion on the Shinkansen bullet trains departing from Tokyo. As of 10 a.m. Monday, the occupancy rate of unreserved seats on the Tohoku, Yamagata, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen lines was between 10-30%, while that of the Tokaido Shinkansen was up to 30%.
The government will discuss what to do with the travel campaign after Jan. 12 at a meeting of the subcommittee on coronavirus countermeasures, which it plans to hold on or after Jan. 4. Depending on the infection situation, the suspension may be continued or only partially lifted.
■ Special measures law
In addition, the ruling and opposition parties will enact amendments to the special measures law for pandemic influenza prior to the enactment of the fiscal budget in the Diet session to be convened in January.
Hiroshi Moriyama, chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party Diet Affairs Committee, and Jun Azumi, his counterpart of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, talked in the Diet building and agreed on doing so Monday morning.
In order to strengthen measures against the novel coronavirus, the government is considering that the proposed amendment will include specified support measures for stores and other businesses that close or shorten their hours in response to requests, as well as penalties for those that do not.
Bosses in S’pore unlikely to mandate Covid-19 vaccination for staff: Experts
Dec 29. 2020The planned vaccination programme is voluntary and free for all Singaporeans and long-term residents here. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
By Michelle Ng and Ang Qing The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE – When the Covid-19 vaccines are rolled out from next year for most residents in Singapore, interior design firm Design 4 Space plans to dangle a trip to Japan to encourage its staff to get the shots.
Although the vaccination programme here is voluntary, the company’s chief executive Richard Yea is encouraging his more than 70 employees to get vaccinated.
“In this trade, we have to meet with home owners frequently. If our staff are vaccinated, home owners will feel more comfortable engaging and interacting with us,” he said, adding that company trips overseas were previously reserved only for the top performers.
Medical experts, human resource practitioners and business associations The Straits Times approached said employers in Singapore are unlikely to enforce the Covid-19 vaccine on their workforce.
But many will strongly encourage their staff to get the shots.
For some companies, this means offering incentives. It can include giving staff time off as well as support for flexible work arrangement, said Mr Ang Yuit, vice-president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).
However, he added: “Most companies will unlikely be too forceful in having their staff receive vaccination unless there are some specific operational reasons internally.”
Singapore Business Federation chief executive Ho Meng Kit agreed, and said the management of the company can lead by example and be the first to take the shots.
The first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Singapore on Dec 21, the first step in vaccinating the population.
The planned vaccination programme is voluntary and free for all Singaporeans and long-term residents here, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had made clear on Dec 14.
Medical experts said there is no need for employers to push their staff to get the shots.
“At the moment, case numbers in Singapore are very low so there isn’t a pressing need to make vaccination compulsory,” said Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases specialist from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said the risk of infection is “extremely low in public”.
“It will be unfair to force individuals to trade a low risk of infection with uncertainty about the long-term side effects of Covid-19 vaccines that are yet to be fully understood,” he added.
However, he said employees should still vaccinate since the risk of doing so is low.
“Vaccination is putting up defences against the virus. It’s not just the government’s role, but everyone plays a part.
“It’s only as strong as the participation from everyone… It allows us to be safe individually and for the country to have herd immunity, and for the country to open up economically,” added Dr Leong.
The first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Singapore on Dec 21, 2020. PHOTO: ST FILE
Singapore entered phase three of its reopening on Monday (Dec 28), with plans to loosen some restrictions on workers returning to office.
Mr Calvin Lim, general manager of CDPL (Tuas) Dormitory, said the company will follow the Government’s directive on vaccinations and will let staff make their own decisions.
“But given that our jobs should be defined as front-liners, we are likely to get the vaccination regardless,” he said. The firm has around 30 staff.
PeopleWorldwide Consulting managing director David Leong said employees have the right to raise concerns about possible risks if they have colleagues who choose not to be vaccinated. But firms should not forbid those who do not receive the shots from entering the office.
“Technically, the risk of exposure is low when safe distancing practices are observed. It’s no different from today’s reality,” he said.
Mr David Calkins, regional managing principal of Asia- Pacific and Middle East at global architecture firm Gensler, believes that the majority of the 54 staff in the Singapore office are open to getting vaccinated.
“We suspect that we won’t have to provide much encouragement to those of us who are in client-facing roles and those who are hoping to be going on business travel in the future to take the vaccination,” he said.
“But even as the vaccine becomes more widely available around the globe, we are anticipating to continue a flexible work mode for much of next year,” he added.
Few travelers are seen at the international terminal lobby of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Monday morning. (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
The planned vaccination programme is voluntary and free for all Singaporeans and long-term residents here. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
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