Malaysia has loosen parts of restriction measures in Kuala Lumpur and some states after nine days of implementing vaccination programme (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines Department of Health(DOH) reported 3,045 new COVID-19 cases on March 5, the record number in fourmonths, raising the total count in the country to 587,704.

Death toll from COVID-19 in the Philippines has increasedto 12,423, while the number of recoveries has been 535,207.

The Southeast Asian country is working hard to control a newwave of COVID-19 outbreak after many patients in Manila and other areas werediagnosed with new variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

On March 5, the DOH confirmed 31 new cases suffering thevariant that was first found in the UK, along with 52 new cases diagnosed withthe variant first discovered in South Africa.

From the beginning of this week, the Philippines has startedvaccinations among medical staff, using vaccine made by Chinese Sinovac. Thecountry received additional 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine through theCOVAX programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The country needs 3.4million doses for 1.7 million medical staff.
         
Meanwhile in Thailand, the Centre for the COVID-19 SituationAdministration (CCSA) on March 5 confirmed 79 new cases of coronavirusinfection, mostly domestic.

Of the 79 cases, 65 were reported as domestic while 14others referred to those who had returned from abroad and tested positive forthe coronavirus in the country, the CCSA report says.

Those domestic cases included 50 in Samut Sakhon province,southwest of Bangkok, the report says.

Thailand has so far confirmed 26,241 cases of infection,23,418 of which were reported as domestic while 2,823 others referred to thosewho had returned from abroad and tested positive in the country.

So far, 25,641 patients have fully recovered and beenreleased from hospitals while 515 others are currently hospitalized and 85fatalities have been reported.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health of Laos on the dayreported two new infections, raising the total cases to 47.

In Malaysia, local authorities reported two new COVID-19cases infected with a new SARS-CoV-2 variant – the variant B.1.525 that wasfound in the UK, Nigeria, Denmark and Canada.

The same day, Malaysia loosen parts of restriction measuresin Kuala Lumpur and some states after nine days of implementing vaccinationprogramme. The country has reported more than 300,000 infections, including1,153 deaths.

Indonesia on March 4 announced that itwould extend the public activity restrictions (PPKM) from March 9-22, while expandingthe restriction to three provinces outside Java and Bali, namely North Sumatra,East Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

The PPKM scheme was first applied on January 11 this yearand has been extended three times.

In Singapore, as of the end of March 4, more than 350,000 Singaporeresidents had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, HealthMinister Gan Kim Yong in Parliament said.

Speaking during the Committee of Supply (COS) debate for theMinistry of Health on March 5, Gan added that over 40,000 seniors aged 70 and above have to date receivedtheir first dose. 

Currently, Singapore has allowed two COVID-19 vaccines of Pfizer(US)-BioNTech (Germany) and Moderna (UꦯS)./.