A medical worker collects a swab sample from a woman to be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 11, 2021. (LIM HUEY TENG / REUTERS)
KUALA LUMPUR / SINGAPORE / YANGON / MANILA / HANOI – The biggest cause of Malaysian deaths in 2021 was COVID-19, the country's statistics department said on Thursday.
According to Malaysia's statistics department, all age groups recorded COVID-19 infection as the leading cause of death except for the group aged 0-14, which saw transport accidents are the main cause of death
The virus was responsible for 31,063 deaths recorded out of the total of 157,251 medically certified deaths reported, the department said in a statement.
"COVID-19 infection was the main cause of death for males and females with 17,708 and 13,355 deaths respectively," it said.
According to the department, all age groups recorded COVID-19 infection as the leading cause of death except for the group aged 0-14, which saw transport accidents are the main cause of death.
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Myanmar
Myanmar confirmed 176 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total tally to 631,235, according to the Ministry of Health on Thursday.
The ministry said in a statement that health authorities tested 10,198 people for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, and the daily positivity rate was 1.73 percent.
The death toll from COVID-19 in the country remained unchanged at 19,480 on Thursday as no new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.
Singapore
Singapore reported 6,247 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the country's total tally to 2,086,588.
Of the new cases, 529 were detected through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and 5,718 through ARTs (antigen rapid test), according to statistics released by the country's Ministry of Health.
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Among the PCR cases, 510 were local transmissions and 19 were imported cases. Among the ART cases with mild symptoms and assessed to be of low risk, there were 5,258 local transmissions and 460 imported cases.
Two more deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 1,670.
The Philippines
The Philippines reported 1,379 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,999,226.
The Department of Health said the number of active cases dropped to 21,215, while 38 more patients died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 63,921.
Vietnam
Vietnam recorded 484 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, down by 342 from Wednesday, according to its ministry of health.
All the new cases were locally transmitted, said the ministry.
The newly reported infections brought the total tally to 11,498,873.
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Vietnam has already recorded COVID-19 infections with the Omicron BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.12.1 and BA.2.74 sub-variants and is accelerating the inoculation of its people with a fourth vaccine dose.