Following the surge of a new coronavirus variant detected in various counties across the region, several Southeast Asian markets are reeling from the crippling effects of the new outbreak. Currently, an array of new lockdown restrictions have been imposed, resulting in mass factory closures and a ramping up of vaccination campaigns.
Coronavirus cases in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam have more than doubled in the past month, while the number of new daily infections in Malaysia has exceeded those of India.
In Vietnam, factories supplying global tech giants such as Apple and Samsung are operating at minimal capacities. Thailand’s largest agribusiness, Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl, was compelled to shut down production for five days in an effort to curb the spread of the new variant after five workers tested positive for COVID-19. Thousands of more cases are skyrocketing at construction sites, factories, and prisons across the country.
Malaysia ordered a total lockdown on Tuesday in an effort to curb the spread of the new variant. To date, less than 6% of the entire nation has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, which is approximately half the proportion in India. Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore, said of the resurging crisis: “The healthcare systems in several Southeast Asian countries are either at risk of being or already have been completely overwhelmed.”
