Asean hits record high with over 102,300 Covid-19 cases
Southeast Asia reported over 100,000 cases for the second time in three weeks, with a record 102,319 on Friday.
The numbers marked a big jump from Thursday’s 95,460. Asean had last recorded 100,000 cases on July 23.
The death toll on Friday was also higher at 2,699, compared to Thursday’s 2,659.
Total Covid-19 cases in the region crossed 8.5 million and deaths rose to 183,704.
Malaysia reported 21,468 new cases and 277 deaths on Friday, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 1,363,683 and death toll to 11,968.
The Malaysian health department urged pregnant women to get Covid-19 jabs to reduce the risk of severe symptoms in case of infection. It also reported that so far 3,396 pregnant women had been infected while 70 have died, most of whom never received a vaccine.
Meanwhile, about 40 per cent of pregnant women in the country, a total of 146,700, had received a Covid-19 jab.
Cambodia reported 423 new cases and 20 deaths, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 84,262 and deaths to 1,654. The government announced the extension of lockdown measures including nighttime curfew in Phnom Penh and eight provinces that share a border with Thailand until August 19 to curb the spread of the delta variant of Covid-19 from Thailand.
