Southeast Asian nations maintain vigilance against COVID-19

Laos recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, including one community infection in Vientiane and nine imported cases, the Lao Health Ministry said on June 27.

National lockdown measures in Malaysia had been set to end on June 28

The local case was reported after Laos had gone through two consecutive days without new infections. Its COVID-19 case count now reaches 2,110, with three fatalities.

Given the complex developments of the pandemic in neighbouring countries, the ministry has urged people to maintain vigilance against the disease and cooperate with competent forces in the combat.

Meanwhile, the Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on June 27 6,096 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,397,992.

The death toll climbed to 24,372 after 128 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega urged people to be vigilant amid the threat of more infectious coronavirus variants such as the Delta variant first found in India.

"We are not out of the woods yet. There is a gradual decrease of cases in Metro Manila but only slowly," Vega said in a radio interview, warning that some central and southern Philippine areas are experiencing a surge of infections.

Thailand also ordered restaurants in its capital city Bangkok and nearby provinces to suspend dine-in services for a month as authorities tightened curbs to tackle the nation’s deadliest wave of COVID-19 outbreak.

The ban on dining in from June 28 is in addition to the previously announced sealing of residential camps of construction workers in the Bangkok metropolitan areas and four other provinces after they became major clusters of infections.

Shopping malls in Bangkok and its neighbouring provinces must be closed by 9pm. All gatherings of more than 20 people, seminars and conferences are banned in Bangkok and the five provinces, according to a Royal Gazette statement late June 26.

Thailand reported 3,995 new infections in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative caseload since the pandemic began to 244,447, official data showed on June 27. Total fatalities topped 1,900 with the addition of 42 new deaths.

Malaysia will extend a national lockdown beyond June 28 to curb the spread of COVID-19, state news agency Bernama reported on June 27, citing Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Lockdown measures were set to end on June 28. But Muhyiddin said they will not be eased until daily cases fell below 4,000, Bernama said.

Malaysia reported 5,803 cases on June 26./.

VNA