Thousands of new COVID-19 infections were confirmed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia on April 26.

A woman undergoes swab test for coronavirus at GSI Lab in Cilandak, South Jakarta, Indonesia in February (Photo: https://jakartaglobe.id/)

Indonesia recorded the largest number, with 5,944 new infections, lifting its national tally to 1,647,138 cases, including 44,771 deaths.

Speaking at an online press conference on the same day, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin announced that a new variant of COVID-19 that reportedly triggered a spike in cases in India had been detected in Indonesia, and ten local people have been infected by the new variant.

According to the minister, six of the ten people were imported cases and the rest were locally-infected cases in Sumatra, West Java and South Kalimantan.

Meanwhile, Malaysia and Thailand and Cambodia recorded 2,776; 2,048 and 580 new cases, respectively, on the same day, bringing their total of infections to 395,718; 57,508 and over 10,000.

The Malaysian government has decided to delay all flights to and from India from April 28 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian country.

Vessels whose navigation through India within the last 14 days and their crew are also not allowed to dock in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the government of Cambodia on April 26 decided to extend the lockdowns in Phnom Penh and Takhmao city in Kandal province for another week to May 5 to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The two localities are under a two-week blockade due to the COVID-19 outbreak from April 15.

In Thailand, Bangkok capital is the hotpot of the third COVID-19 wave with 9,076 new infections reported from the beginning of April.

To prevent the pandemic from spreading, the Bangkok authorities ordered the closure of parks, movie theatres, coffee shops, public swimming pools, gymnasiums, libraries, museums and spa centres from April 26.

Thailand has also suspended the entry of foreigners from India where the outbreaks are developing complicatedly.

Source: VNA