COVID-19 vaccination among medical staff in Manila, the Philippines (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines detected 5,404COVID-19 cases on March 15, a record in a day in seven months, according to thecountry’s Department of Health.
In the past 24 hours, the country saw eight COVID-19 deaths,raising the death toll to 12,837. So far, the country has reported 626,893 COVID-19cases.
Secretary of Health Francisco Duque said that the countryhas seen a sharp rise in new infections since March 4 due to the loosening oftravelling restrictions, violations of pandemic control regulations, and the presence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Amid the situation, the Manila capital region, home to about13 million people, has resumed restriction measures from March 15.
The same day, Indonesia found 5,589 new COVID-19 infectionsand 147 deaths, raising the respective figures to over 1.42 million and 38,573.Currently, Indonesia is the country with the highest number of infections anddeaths in Southeast Asia.
At the same time, a representative of an Indonesian statepharmaceutical firm said that the country expects to receive 20.2 million dosesof COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna of the US and China's Sinopharm from the secondquarter to use in a private vaccination scheme.
Honesti Basyir, CEO of Bio Farma, told a parliamentaryhearing on March 15 that it had ordered 15 million doses from China NationalPharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and 5.2 million from Moderna.
The Sinopharm vaccine could arrive by the end of the secondquarter, and the Moderna vaccine in the third quarter, he said.
Indonesia aims to inoculate 181.5 million people within ayear in an effort to reach herd immunity in a vaccination drive that began inJanuary.
Meanwhile, Thailand also detected additional 78 COVID-29cases in the past 24 hours, including 74 found in the community.
Thailand has so far seen 27,005 COVID-19 cases, including 87deaths.
Also on March 15, Cambodia confirmed 20 new COVID-19infections, raising the country’s count to 1,325. Phnom Penh alone saw 18community-infected cases.
Cambodia has suffered the third wave of COVID-19 sinceFebruary 20, with at least 810 infections. The country has closed schools,sport centres, museums, cinemas and entertainment facilities in localities withCOVID-19 patients./.
