Coronavirus: Malaysia sees record cases despite lockdown; Southeast Asia needs help securing vaccines, Red Cross says

The record high of 22,242 infections comes despite a lockdown in place since mid-May that has caused the economy to nosedive

Meanwhile, South Korea wants to have 70 per cent of its population vaccinated by the end of September, prime minister said

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A cyclist rides along a deserted street near the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 11:32am, 18 Aug 2021Updated: 9:37pm, 18 Aug 2021

Malaysia’s health ministry on Thursday reported more than 22,000 new cases of the coronavirus in a day for the first time, edging the pandemic total closer to 1.5 million.

The record high comes despite a lockdown in place since mid-May that has caused the economy to nosedive, with a 2-per-cent contraction reported during the second quarter.

Criticism of the government’s pandemic response contributed to the resignation this week of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The overall relative death toll remains far lower than in Europe or North America, though Malaysia is by a distance reporting the most new cases per day in Southeast Asia, according to official numbers collated by the University of Oxford’s Our World in Data.

Wednesday saw 293 virus-related deaths confirmed by the ministry, taking the death toll to over 13,000.

Most people who test positive for the virus do not become unwell, according to the ministry, which on Tuesday said that over 98 per cent of people listed among the day’s new cases displayed mild or no symptoms.

Almost a third of the population has received two doses of vaccine, according to ministry figures announced on Tuesday.