Asean reported over 25,000 new Covid-19 cases on Monday
The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 14.23 million across Southeast Asia, with 25,340 new cases reported on Monday (December 6). New deaths are at 422, bringing accumulated Covid-19 deaths in Asean to 294,577.
Home-grown biotechnology firm BioAcumen Global has launched Singapore's first Omicron-specific Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kit. The new BioA Omicron Detection Kit is able to detect the Omicron variant specifically, besides prior variants of the coronavirus. Currently, PCR kits here that are capable of detecting Omicron require an additional gene sequencing step to confirm the specific variant. This takes an additional day.
Meanwhie, Philippines’ Department of Education expected more schools to be allowed to hold in-person classes next year following the smooth implementation of the pilot run in 118 schools last month and in an additional 177, including 28 in Metro Manila, starting this week.
So far, the physical classes have been going well with no reported COVID-19 cases among participants.
The second batch of schools was likely to be the last to be added to the pilot run this year as students were expected to go on break starting December 20.