Coronavirus: Malaysia to lift more curbs, eases mask mandate; India’s Modi urges jabs for children
- Malaysia has seen some of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the region, but infection surges have since subsided amid a ramped up vaccination programme
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on states to urgently increase Covid-19 inoculation for children and bolster tracking as daily cases touch six-week high
Malaysia will ease more Covid-19 curbs from the start of next month, including lifting restrictions on those who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus and scrapping the need to wear masks outdoors, its health minister said.
The Southeast Asian nation has seen some of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the region, but infection surges have since subsided amid a ramped up vaccination programme.
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Wednesday people will now be able to enter public premises regardless of their vaccination status, except those who have tested positive for Covid-19 or unvaccinated travellers undergoing quarantine.
Malaysia will also remove preflight and on-arrival testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers and those who have just recovered from Covid-19, Khairy said.
Masks will remain mandatory for indoor activities and on public transport, he said.
The country reported a record of more than 30,000 cases at the height of the Omicron wave last month, but daily infections have since slowed to about 3,300 on Wednesday.
Nearly 82 per cent of Malaysia’s 32 million population are fully vaccinated, while about half have received a booster jab.
India’s Modi urges jabs for children as cases rise
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on states to urgently ramp up Covid-19 inoculation for children and bolster genome sequencing to track newer variants on Wednesday amid concerns of a new virus wave as daily cases touched a six-week high.
“We need to stay alert given the way cases have risen in some states in the last two weeks,” Modi said after meeting chiefs of Indian states on Wednesday. “India has reopened schools after a very long time. Rising cases are a worry for parents and we have also been hearing of children being infected.” He urged states to consider inoculation programmes through schools as well as upgrade their heath care infrastructure.
The South Asian nation, which has been among the worst-hit nations globally, added 2,927 new cases Wednesday – the highest one-day jump since March 13 – pushing the total official tally past 43 million. Deaths rose marginally, taking the total fatalities to 523,654. India, which has fully vaccinated 85 per cent of its adult population, recently allowed children older than five to receive Covid shots.
Modi’s comments reflect broader public anxiety around the prospect of a new infection wave, given the trauma of a devastating outbreak last summer in which daily cases topped 400,000, overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums. As the deadly delta variant ripped through the crowded nation of almost 1.4 billion people last year, it left citizens pleading for oxygen and other medical resources on social-media platforms.
Modi’s meeting with state chief ministers comes almost a week after capital New Delhi reinstated mask mandates and stepped up surveillance for new Covid-19 variants. Earlier this month, Mumbai detected the highly transmissible XE variant.
While there are no stress signs in the country’s healthcare system, rising infections risk thwarting the recent return to normalcy as schools, offices and cinemas reopen.
“The filtered daily growth rate of new cases in India stood at 9.5 per cent on 23 April, having risen steadily since turning positive on 13 April,” a Covid-19 India tracker developed by the University of Cambridge said in an April 23 note. But the current surge looks “much more muted than the Omicron wave which took off toward the end of last year,” it said.
