COVID-19 STILL COMPLICATED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Update May 5th
During the last week, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia had a high number of new infections at 3 or 4 digits per day. In Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, the number of new infections tended to decrease but not stable. Vietnam found many new community cases in over 15 provinces.
According to the website worldometers.info, as of 23:59 on May 5, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries recorded 176,735 more cases of COVID-19 disease compared to 1 day ago, while the total number of deaths increased to over 69,440 people. In the past 24 hours, the ASEAN association had up to six member countries that recorded COVID-19 deaths: the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia.
In the past week, many countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia had a high number of new infections at 3 or 4 digits per day. The average number of new infections every day in the past week in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia is about 8,000, 5,000, and 3,000 cases respectively.
Particularly in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, the number of new infections tended to decrease but not stable. Typically in the case of Cambodia, after having recorded new infections at least May 1 (388) since the beginning of the week, the country has doubled the number of new infections on May 2. Laos recorded fewer cases of infections last week, until May 2, there were suddenly 112 cases, nearly equal to a record of 113 cases on April 26.
Disease developments in Vietnam are also happening quite complicatedly. Since the end of April, 50 new community infections have been found in 15 provinces.
Meanwhile, Singapore recorded new infections always at 2 digits, with 45 cases on April 26 and 34 cases on 1-5, an average of 30 cases/day in the past week. Vietnam is the country with the lowest number of new infections per day in the region, with an average of 15 cases per day over the past 7 days.
Specifically, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has so far claimed the lives of a total of 69,448 people in Southeast Asia, an increase of 301 cases compared to a day ago. While the number of cases increased to 3,753,178 cases. Besides, the ASEAN region also witnessed the number of patients successfully treated in 3,125,011 cases.
Below is the specific disease situation of Southeast Asian countries:
Vietnam:
This Covid-19 outbreak, which broke out on April 29, has so far recorded 64 cases of community infection. Since the beginning of the epidemic, a total of 3030 cases have been recorded positive for Covid-19, including 1634 cases of domestic infection. 2560 recovered cases and 35 deaths.
Before April 29th, Vietnam had a very good pandemic control and did not have any community infections. Since then, Disease developments in Vietnam are increasingly complicated when new cases of community infections have been found in 15 provinces recently. Many provinces in Vietnam begun implementing partial social stretch measures, such as closing restaurants, karaoke bars, or temporarily leaving students out of school. The Ministry of The Health of Vietnam has decided to increase the number of days of compulsory concentration quarantine for suspected cases to 21, instead of 14.
Thailand
Overall, Thailand was able to control the COVID-19 pandemic in its early stages through limited measures and strict border controls. However, the country is grappling with a third wave of deadly infections that started in early April with the more infectious B117 variant.
However, this country still faces a high new number of cases of community infection. On May 5, Thailand recorded 2,112 new cases and 15 deaths, bringing the total to 74,900 cases, of which 318 died. Most of the new cases are infectious in the community. Bangkok capital continues to be the center of the epidemic when it recorded the highest number of new cases with 789 cases.
Indonesia:
Indonesia saw 5,285 new cases and 212 deaths on May 5, taking the tallies to 1,691,658 cases and 46,349 deaths.
Although Indonesia is still the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 in ASEAN, the epidemic situation in this country trends to go down compared to the last period. In the past 1 day, Indonesia had the highest number of deaths in Southeast Asia and the second-highest number of new cases.
The Philippines
The Philippines recorded 5,685 new cases and 178 deaths on May 5, bringing the tallies to 1,073,555 cases and 17,800 deaths.
Meanwhile, developments are returning and serious outbreaks in the Philippines, making the country the hottest outbreak in the region. The epidemic progressed badly with the number of new cases/day is higher than in Indonesia. and the highest among Southeast Asian countries. The number of deaths had never decreased compared to the previous days.
Malaysia:
Malaysia reported 3,744 new cases and 17 deaths on May 5, bringing the tallies to 424,376 cases and 1,591 deaths.
Malaysia is still very concerned about the situation, the new epidemic wave has prolonged and there is no sign of cooling off. This country is witnessing the trend of epidemic escalation again due to the rapid increase in the number of new cases per day in the past few days.
Laos:
Laos saw 105 new cases on May 6, taking the total to 1,177.
Vientiane capital applied for the blockade order from April 22 to May 5. The other provinces also implemented the blockade order and on April 28. The number of new cases decreased on May 1st however, it has increased back on the following day. At a press conference on May 5, the Lao Prime Minister announced the extension of lockdown in Vientiane till May 20.
Cambodia:
Cambodia saw 672 new cases and three deaths on May 5, taking the totals to 16,971 cases and 110 deaths.
Recently, the new cases are going down. However, the authorities continue to tighten the most stringent epidemic prevention and control measures.
Myanmar:
Myanmar recorded 16 new cases and one death on May 5, bringing the total to 142,874 amid 3,210 deaths.
