As COVID cases rise, Malaysia and Singapore take precautions

Governments in Southeast Asia are preparing for a spike in COVID-19 cases and an increase in foreign visitors as the region gets closer to the holidays.

In order to better monitor and appropriately respond to illnesses, Malaysia has reactivated the Heightened Alert System, an early intervention strategy based on infection and death levels as well as the hospitalization rate. Advisories have been issued by Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, urging people to vaccinate and wear masks.

Since the beginning of this month, there has been a 75% increase in cases in these countries, bringing the total number of cases to tens of thousands.

Experts claim that since governments are more prepared and would guarantee that businesses and economies will continue operating as usual, there is no need for lockdowns or border closures during this instance. In addition, locals and visitors are urged to take reasonable precautions to ensure their safety when moving from place to place from gathering to gathering.

In the week of December 10 – 16, Malaysia saw a 62.2% increase in new infections, totaling 20,696. Although 96 individuals required ventilators and 28 people died, 97% of the cases were moderate.

The most common type was the extremely contagious omicron variant.

Following an increase in illnesses, neighboring Singapore has also taken action. On its website, the health ministry started posting a daily update on coronavirus infections on Tuesday in an effort "to provide the latest information on the situation during this period of surge in cases."

The Ministry of Health said on December 15 that illnesses in the nation increased by 75% to over 56,000 cases during the week of December 3–9. This prompted further measures. It was a rise for the third week in a row.