Rising COVID-19 cases are threatening to overstrain Malaysia’s crowded hospitals and the Philippines reopened its COVID-19 treatment wards amid a surge in Southeast Asia, underscoring the need for governments to adjust to the disease’s ebb and flow in a world now living with the virus.
As of Saturday last week, more than 70 percent of government hospital beds in Malaysia were occupied, up more than 20 percentage points from a week earlier.
Authorities have appealed to anyone testing positive to abide by a mandated seven-day quarantine in an effort to stem the pressure on its medical system.
Photo: Bloomberg
The jump is being fueled by gatherings over the recent long Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday, with the country also recording 20 deaths in the two weeks to Saturday — 25 percent more fatalities than the previous 14 days.
In the Philippines, positive rates among people tested jumped from just 7 percent at the start of last month to 17 percent by the end of the month. The Philippine Department of Health has since asked hospitals to reopen COVID-19 treatment facilities in a bid to curb the spike in cases, despite more than 80 percent of the nation’s regular hospital beds and intensive care units sitting empty.
Cases have also risen in Vietnam, which has reimposed some pandemic-era restrictions in key cities. Indoor mask-wearing mandates have since late last month been in effect in public spaces in the capital, Hanoi, while commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, has ordered masks to be worn again on school campuses.
In Singapore, rising demand from an aging population had by the end of last month driven up waiting times for admission to hospital wards to seven hours — up from five hours just two weeks ago — the Singaporean Ministry of Health said. A rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the city-state only stands to fuel the strain.
The surge comes as healthcare systems in Southeast Asia have already been under strain following years of the pandemic, so the prospect of hospital resources coming under further pressure is ringing officials’ alarm bells.
One of the biggest sources of pressure is acute medical staff shortages, following COVID-19-era exoduses over grueling hours and low pay.
Developing nations in the region, including the Philippines — the world’s biggest exporter of nurses — are also disadvantaged in a global bidding war for doctors, nurses and other personnel by deeper-pocketed countries similarly in need of medical workers.
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