Asean records least number of new Covid cases in weeks
New Covid-19 cases fell sharply in Southeast Asia to its lowest in weeks, however the number of deaths were higher on Monday, collated data showed.
Asean reported 54,998 new cases on Monday, lower than Sunday’s 63,014, while deaths rose to 840 from 712 the previous day.
The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 11.95 million while the death toll in the region has gone up to 259,612.
Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control has agreed to change the strategy policy from "Zero Covid" to "Safe and flexible adaptation and effective control of the Covid-19 pandemic", striving to bring the country back to a new normal by the end of September. The country reported 9,362 new cases and 174 deaths on Monday, bringing cumulative cases to 766,051 patients and total 18,758 deaths.
Meanwhile, Malaysia is considering reopening theme parks by the end of November as the Ministry of Public Health estimates that by then up to 90 per cent of the adult population in the country would have been vaccinated against Covid-19. On Monday, Malaysia reported 10,959 news cases and 278 deaths, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 2,209,194 patients and deaths to 25,437.