Staff check a client at a drive-through COVID-19 testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan 8, 2022. (MARK BAKER / AP)
SEOUL / SYDNEY / BANGKOK / SINGAPORE / PHNOM PENH / KUALA LUMPUR – As the world struggles through the third year of the pandemic, leaders of countries such as Australia are encouraging a "living with COVID-19" mindset, a seemingly relaxed attitude which could prove deadly, according to a prominent scientist.
Professor Adrian Esterman, chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia, told Xinhua on Tuesday that such an approach to the highly contagious disease is especially dangerous for older and frail people and, as such, should not replace proven safety measures such as high vaccination rates, mandatory wearing of face masks and social distancing.
The long-term symptoms of COVID-19 are another major concern that Esterman believes may impose heavy burdens on victims of the illness and the healthcare system.
"We don't know an awful lot about long COVID," he conceded. "There are so many symptoms that people get: brain shrinkage, brain fog, severe headaches, severe fatigue, problems within nervous system, problems with their heart, problems of the respiratory system … the list just goes on."
With so much at stake, Esterman is concerned that countries such as Australia and Britain are prematurely easing essential safety measures which he believes is a "retrograde step."
"It's just a populist move to say 'COVID-19 is no longer here, let's forget about it, let's get back to our normal lives.'"
"Unfortunately, the virus doesn't know that, the virus is still there. It's still infecting people, killing people and putting people in hospital."
Meanwhile, Australia's two most populated states, New South Wales and Victoria, are expected to end one of their last major COVID-19 regulations within the coming days.
At present, people in the two states who have been in close contact with a COVID-19 case must remain in home isolation for seven days.
It is a rule which has hampered many businesses, especially in the retail and hospitality sectors, as they struggle to retain their staffing levels and there have subsequently been reports of groups lobbying politicians to allow those in quarantine to return to work.
A worker transports a shipment of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines at Phnom Penh International Airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug 1, 2021. A plane carrying a new batch of China-donated Sinopharm shots touched down in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Aug 1, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said. (PHEARUM / XINHUA)
Cambodia
Cambodia has made a right decision to choose China as the strategic supplier of COVID-19 vaccines, which have enabled the country to achieve strong herd immunity very early, Cambodian scholars said.
The southeast Asian nation launched a national vaccination drive against COVID-19 in February 2021, with most of the vaccines being Sinovac and Sinopharm, and reached full herd immunity just in eight months.
Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said vaccines have protected people's lives, stabilized health system and helped restore the kingdom's economy.
"The royal government of Cambodia has made the correct decision to choose China as a strategic supplier of COVID-19 vaccines so that's why Cambodia has enough vaccines for its people," he told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Phea said Chinese vaccines have enabled Cambodia to fully resume its socio-economic activities and to reopen its borders to vaccinated travelers without quarantine since last November.
The kingdom has administered one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.86 million people, or 92.9 percent of its 16-million population, the health ministry said, adding that of them, 14.12 million, or 88.2 percent, have been fully vaccinated with two required shots.
Also, some 8.12 million, or 50.8 percent, have taken the third dose, and 1.24 million, or 7.7 percent, have got the fourth jab, the health ministry said.
Malaysia
Malaysia recorded 6,069 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Tuesday, bringing the national total to 4,402,234, according to the Health Ministry.
There are 110 new imported cases, with 5,959 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
A further 12 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 35,449.
A notice warning people not to gather in groups larger than five persons as part of restrictions to hald the spread of the coronavirus is displayed at Raffles Place financial business district in Singapore on Jan 4, 2022. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore
Singapore reported 4,718 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 1,167,498.
Among the total cases, 4,544 were local transmissions with 174 being imported cases.
Digital screens showing safety precautions against the coronavirus are seen in a subway train in in Seoul, South Korea on March 22, 2022. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP)
South Korea
South Korea recorded 111,319 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 16,583,220, the health authorities said Wednesday.
The daily caseload was slightly down from 118,504 recorded in the previous day and far lower than 195,393 a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
The health authorities believed that the daily caseload has been on the decline following the resurgence, driven by the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the virus and its subvariant BA.2, which peaked in mid-March.
A man wearing a face mask to protect against COVID-19 walks around Wat Pho temple in Bangkok on Feb 24, 2022. (JACK TAYLOR / AFP)
Thailand
Thailand reported 129 daily COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, as new single-day infections stood at 16,891.
Authorities are on high alert and urge the public to exercise safe distance measures, in expectation of a high case surge as a result of recent travel activities during the Songkran holidays.
The health authorities expected COVID-19 cluster outbreaks particularly in the following two to four weeks. In order to keep the hospitalization rate low and prevent infection spikes, the government recommended people returning from their Songkran trips to observe symptoms and keep working from home.
Under the light of uncertain new COVID-19 waves, the Thai government is scheduled later this week to decide whether and how to further relax border restrictions in order to attract more international tourists.