Ep 303: How Concerned Should We Be About Hantavirus?, ASEAN's Shared Fuel Reserve & AirAsia Floats a Hotel Boat

“There’s a significant amount of downplaying the risk level to the public, but those striking disembarkation scenes with hazmat suits and water showers on the MV Hondius cruise ship tell us how seriously the WHO is taking this outbreak.” Zoonotic viruses are back in the headlines six-and-a-half-years after Covid was identified in China. So too are terms like “Contact Tracing,” “Mask Wearing” and “Breaking the Chains of Transmission”. Gary and Hannah kickstart the week by taking a closer look at the unresolved questions and issues around the Hantavirus outbreak. We move on to Manila, where the ASEAN leaders discussed - and kicked down the road - a proposal to create a shared South East Asian fuel reserve to mitigate future energy shocks. Meanwhile, Singapore launched its annual swathe of new tourism initiatives and investments and AirAsia played coy about its coded intentions in the hotel world. And finally, we head to Bangkok were Pokemon is taking its IP tourism play to mainland South East Asia. Are countries simply adopting each others’ ideas? All this and much more…

NB: There have been 6 confirmed cases (plus 2 probable) and 3 confirmed deaths so far - correcting the mortality figure mentioned in the podcast.