Global Courant 2023-05-04 11:25:00
KUALA LUMPUR – Rising Covid-19 cases threaten to overload Malaysia’s overcrowded hospitals and the Philippines reopened their coronavirus treatment wards amid a surge in Southeast Asia, highlighting the need for governments to adapt to the low tide and flood of the disease in a world now living with the virus.
More than 70 percent of government hospital beds in Malaysia were occupied as of April 29, more than 20 percentage points more than a week earlier, and authorities have called on anyone testing positive to comply with a mandatory seven-day quarantine in an effort to ease the strain on the medical system.
The jump is fueled by rallies during the recent long Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday, with the country also recording 20 deaths in the two weeks to April 29 – 25 percent more fatalities than the previous 14 days.
In the neighboring Philippines, positive rates among people tested rose from just 7 percent at the beginning of April to 17 percent at the end of the month.
The health department has since asked hospitals to reopen Covid-19 treatment facilities to curb the spike in cases, despite more than 80 percent of the country’s regular hospital beds and intensive care units standing empty.
Cases have also risen in Vietnam, which has reintroduced some pandemic-era restrictions in key cities. Indoor mask-wearing mandates have been in effect in public areas in the capital Hanoi since late last month, while Ho Chi Minh City’s commercial center has ordered masks to be worn again on school campuses.
In Singapore, rising demand from an aging population had pushed waiting times for admission to hospital wards to seven hours by the end of last month – up from five hours just two weeks ago – according to the health ministry. A rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations in the city-state will only add to the pressure.
The rise comes as Southeast Asia’s healthcare systems are already under strain after years of pandemic, so the prospect of further pressure on hospital resources is ringing alarm bells among officials.
One of the biggest sources of pressure is the acute shortage of medical staff, due to exodus in the Covid-19 era over grueling hours and low wages.
Developing countries in the region, including the Philippines – the world’s largest exporter of nurses – are also being disadvantaged in a global bidding war for doctors, nurses and other personnel by countries with bigger pockets that also need medical workers. BLOOMBERG
