Coronavirus: Malaysia sees record Covid-19 cases; Thailand to ease lockdowns in Bangkok

Malaysia has recorded more than 1.64 million coronavirus cases, with about 15,200 deaths

Elsewhere, Thai authorities plan to ease restrictions in the capital region, while New Zealand’s lockdown has been extended

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A worker sanitises a playground in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:22am, 27 Aug 2021Updated: 10:02pm, 27 Aug 2021

Malaysia is now Southeast Asia’s Covid-19 hotspot, reporting 22,070 new cases on Friday, eclipsing Indonesia and Thailand where daily infections have ebbed.

The surge, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, poses a risk to Malaysia’s recovery, with the central bank recently lowering its economic growth forecast for the year, and threatens to prolong the chip shortage with the country a key centre for semiconductor testing and packaging.

The country has recorded more than 1.66 million coronavirus cases, with 15,550 deaths. About 57 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) this week said the pandemic in the Asia-Pacific region was at a “critical phase”, and everything must be done to limit transmission to avoid more dangerous variants from emerging.

Takeshi Kasai, regional director for WHO’s Western Pacific region, noted that the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Asia-Pacific countries were “rising sharply”, mainly due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

In the first three weeks of August, the region accounted for 10 per cent of global Covid-19 cases and more than 8 per cent of global deaths, he said.

“At this critical phase in the pandemic, let us stay the course,” he said on Wednesday. “It is within our power to reduce the threat of the virus by making the most of every tool we have to fight it today.”