Thailand reported 1,390 new coronavirus cases on April 19, slowing from six consecutive days of record highs.

The new cases took the country’s total count to 43,742, with 104 deaths.

Thai Minister of Education Treenuch Thienthong said the opening of a new academic year slated for next month may be deferred to June.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior announced that 47 out of 77 provinces require those who come from other regions to stay in quarantine for 14 days.

Also on April 19, Malaysian Minister of Health Adham Baba said the country started the second phase of the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) in the nine states of Kedah, Melaka, Penang, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, Negri Sembilan and Perlis, along with Labuan federal territory.

As of April 17, nearly 40 percent of the country’s population, or about 8.95 million people, had registered for the NIP, more than 439,280 of them received two full shots in the first phase.

The third phase involving adults aged 18 and above is scheduled for May.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Malaysia is on the rise. On April 18, the country logged 2,195 new cases and eight fatalities, raising the count to 375,054 and 1,378, respectively.

Source: VNA