TUESDAY, March 19, 2024
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Covid deaths in Indonesia cross 100,000 as Asean reports rise in cases

Covid deaths in Indonesia cross 100,000 as Asean reports rise in cases

Southeast Asia saw an increase in new Covid-19 cases, while deaths were down marginally on Thursday, collated data showed.

Asean reported 97,679 new cases, higher than Wednesday’s 95,870, with 2,965 deaths, down from the previous day’s 2,977.

The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 7.75 million and deaths climbed to 161,748.

Indonesia became the second country in Asia and 12th in the world to cross 100,000 deaths. Although the number of new infections is lower than the United States, the lower vaccination rate and lack of equipment among public health staff has caused a higher mortality rate. About one-third of the Indonesia's Covid-19 deaths were reported in July, which was when the delta variant of the virus was spotted in the country. Most of the victims died while waiting to be treated due to inadequate hospital beds.

Malaysia reported 20,596 new cases and 164 deaths on Thursday, bringing cumulative cases in the country to 1,203,706 patients with 10,019 deaths. It was the first time that new infections crossed the 20,000 mark. Numbers have exceeded 10,000 patients per day since mid-July.

Public health experts predicted that the new infections would reach the peak point in mid-September before decreasing to around 1,000 a day in October due to the strict lockdown measures.

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