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A woman gets vaccinated against Covid-19 in Selangor, Malaysia. Photo: Xinhua

Coronavirus: Malaysia and Singapore to mutually recognise vaccination records; South Korea hits record daily cases

  • National Recovery Council chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said he and Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong discussed the importance of reopening the border to both countries
  • Elsewhere, more than half of Australia’s adult population were fully vaccinated and Cambodia cancelled its ‘Festival of the Dead’ after an outbreak among monks
Agencies
Malaysia and Singapore will recognise each other’s vaccination certificates to allow movement between the two countries, National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday.
Muhyiddin said he had been in touch with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently and they discussed the importance of reopening the border to both countries.

“Lee agreed but with the Covid-19 situation and vaccination in Malaysia and Singapore yet to be over, he was a bit cautious.

“However, the relationship between our countries is very close, including for daily business affairs. When the border could not be opened, it became a major problem,” he added.

The former prime minister added that for now, only lorries and trailers were allowed to use the Causeway and Second Link if the driver and attendant had been vaccinated in Singapore.

China’s vaccine diplomacy in Malaysia: problems and prospects amid pandemic

He said among the matters to be looked into when reopening the border was concerned included getting Singapore’s approval and getting vaccination rates to a higher percentage.

“We will also mutually recognise each other’s vaccination certificates to allow movement between Malaysia and Singapore,” he added.

Muyhiddin said border reopening, interdistrict and interstate travel were always raised by the government at meetings of any level and intended to include foreign travellers as well as citizens.

“We will analyse data and science as well as obtain views from experts including from the Health Ministry, and consider border safety issues, under the Home Ministry.

“All this will be taken into consideration but what is sure is, once the vaccination [rate] has increased and the country becomes much safer, all borders surrounding and in Malaysia will be opened,” he added.

South Korea sees record daily cases

South Korea has set a record for daily Covid-19 cases at 2,434, breaking the previous record set last month, as the country grapples with a wave of infections that began in early July, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Friday.

The mortality rate and severe cases remain relatively low and steady at 0.82 per cent and 309, respectively, helped largely by vaccinations that prioritised older people at high risk of severe Covid-19, KDCA said when reporting figures for Thursday.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum stressed the need for virus-prevention rules to be stricter as adherence could have been lax during this week’s three-day holiday.

“If prevention measures are not managed stably, the gradual recovery to normal life will inevitably be delayed,” Kim told Friday’s Covid-19 response meeting.

Authorities have advised people returning from holiday to be tested even for the mildest symptoms, especially before going to work.

The daily caseloads may continue to surge and peak by next week as more people get tested after the break, Lee Ki-il, deputy minister of health care policy, told a briefing.

02:43

Young South Koreans hunt for scarce Covid-19 vaccines amid surge in new infections

Young South Koreans hunt for scarce Covid-19 vaccines amid surge in new infections

The government is drawing up a plan on how to live more normally with Covid-19, expecting 80 per cent of adults to be fully vaccinated by late October. The strategy will be implemented in phases to gradually ease restrictions, while masks will still be required at least in the initial stage.

Although the strategy will not immediately lift all prevention measures, South Korea – which struggled to get vaccine supplies initially – was now in a more comfortable position for the transition, President Moon Jae-in told reporters aboard South Korea’s presidential jet on Friday.

“There is no problem at all with the amount of vaccines secured for this year,” Moon said. “The vaccine shipment got off to a slower start than other countries, which delayed the vaccination programme, but I believe by next month, we will catch up and be a leading country by inoculation rate.”

South Korea will remain under tough social-distancing curbs through October 3, which includes limited operating hours for cafes and restaurants and limiting the number of people allowed at social gatherings at up to two people after 6pm in Seoul.

Thursday’s new cases brings total infections to 295,132, with 2,434 deaths.

South Korea has given 72.3 per cent of its 52 million population at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine through Thursday, and has fully inoculated nearly 44 per cent.

Australia hits vaccine milestone

More than half of Australia’s adult population were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Friday, authorities said, as they step up inoculations in hopes of easing restrictions while cases linger near daily record levels in Victoria.

Australia is grappling with a third wave of infections from the highly infectious Delta variant that has led to lockdowns in its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, and the capital, Canberra, affecting nearly half the country’s 25 million people.

These tough curbs and a decision to shut construction sites for two weeks over the rapid spread of the virus among workers triggered anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne for three straight days.

Police made some arrests in Melbourne on Friday, local media reported, as they look to prevent more protests.

Asia doesn’t need to rush into broad vaccine mandates like the US

As most of Australia’s southeast remains under strict stay-at-home restrictions, virus-free Western Australia is gearing up to host the Australian Rules Football Grand Final for the first time, in front of 60,000 fans at Perth Stadium on Saturday.

Victoria on Friday reported one new death and 733 new infections, its second biggest daily rise in the pandemic, down from the record high of 766 on Thursday. Most cases were detected in Melbourne.

Both New South Wales (NSW) and Victorian leaders have pledged more freedom to residents once full vaccinations in people older than 16 reach 70 per cent, expected next month. So far, 57 per cent have been fully vaccinated in NSW, above the national average of 50.1 per cent. Two million doses were administered in country in the last seven days.

Daily cases may have stabilised in NSW, the epicentre of the country’s worst outbreak, as it reported 1,043 new infections, down from 1,063 on Thursday.

Vietnam delays reopening resort island

Vietnam has pushed back a plan to reopen the resort island of Phu Quoc to foreign tourists until November, after failing to meet targets for inoculating residents due to insufficient vaccine supplies, state media reported.

The Southeast Asian nation, which is currently shut to all visitors apart from returning citizens and investors, has been struggling to speed up inoculations to help contain a spike in Covid-19 cases driven by the Delta variant in recent months.

Authorities had initially planned to allow vaccinated foreign tourists to start returning to Phu Quoc in October to revive the tourism sector and prop up the economy.

“We have to inoculate residents here for herd immunity but vaccine supplies are falling short,” the state-run VTC newspaper quoted Huynh Quang Hung, the chairman of Phu Quoc City’s People’s Committee, as saying.

Has Vietnam turned a corner in its coronavirus fight?

Last week, the island’s authorities said an additional 250,000-300,000 doses were needed to achieve herd immunity.

So far only 2.9 per cent of residents in Kien Giang, the province that hosts Phu Quoc, had received two doses, official data showed.

Overall, 7.3 per cent of Vietnam’s 98 million people are fully vaccinated – one of the lowest rates in the region.

Phu Quoc on Monday detected a new Covid-19 cluster after months with no local cases, though provincial authorities said it was under control and would not affect the reopening plan. Authorities said Phu Quoc would have a phased reopening over six months starting on November 20, with up to three chartered flights touching down per week.

Under the plan, the island expects to welcome 3,000-5,000 visitors over the trial period, with compulsory virus tests conducted by authorities, VTC said in Thursday’s report.

It remained unclear if visitors will have to undergo a seven-day quarantine period as requested by Vietnam’s health ministry.

People offer food and alms to Buddhist monks as they pray during the Pchum Ben festival outside a pagoda in Phnom Penh on Friday. Photo: AFP

Cambodia halts ‘Festival of the Dead’ after outbreak

Cambodia has cancelled its “Festival of the Dead” – an annual holiday where the Buddhist faithful pay respects to deceased relatives – after a coronavirus outbreak among monks in the capital.

Worshippers around the country visit pagodas during the two-week Pchum Ben festival to offer prayers and food to the spirits of their ancestors.

This year’s observance began on Wednesday but will come to an early end on the weekend after nearly 50 Buddhist monks tested positive for coronavirus and authorities locked down their temple in Phnom Penh.

The festival cancellation was “necessary to control the spread of Covid-19 … at the time that Cambodia is reopening schools and is planning to reopen the country,” Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a Thursday night statement.

Cambodia largely avoided the spread of the pandemic last year but surging infections since have seen more than 105,000 cases and nearly 2,200 deaths.

It has nonetheless won praise for a swift vaccine drive, with Cambodia’s health ministry claiming that over 98 per cent of the country’s adult population has received at least one dose.

Schools in some lower-risk parts of the country reopened last week and Hun Sen said a pilot scheme to allow fully vaccinated international travellers to visit is under consideration.

Reporting by Reuters, Agence France-Presse, The Star

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Malaysia, Singapore mutually recognise jab records
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