Situation Repot of COVID-19 in the ASEAN Region – 30 August 2021

Global Update

• Worldwide, there have been over 217 million cases and over 4 million deaths attributed to COVID-19.

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there appears to be a stable trend in new cases after increasing for nearly two months since mid-June. Over 4.5 million cases were reported between August 16 and August 22. The regions of the Western Pacific and Americas reported 20% and 8% increases in weekly new cases, respectively, compared to last week. Similar to last week, the global number of new deaths reported was over 68,000. Based on the BlueDot COVID-19 Data Suite, as of August 26, the top five countries with the highest seven-day rolling average number of daily new cases are the United States, Iran, India, United Kingdom, and Japan. The top five countries/overseas collectivities with the highest seven-day rolling average number of daily new cases per million population are French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Georgia, Martinique, and Kosovo.

• As of August 26, North and Central America is the continent with the largest proportion of countries (32%, or 13 out of 41) with a high incidence rate (>350 cases per 100,000 over the past 14 days) and a stable or increasing trend in daily new cases over the last seven days. Europe has the highest proportion of countries (39%, 20 out of 51) with a low (<=140) to moderate (140.1 - 350) incidence rate and an increasing trend in new cases over the last seven days. Africa is the continent with the highest proportion of countries (66%, 37 out of 56) reporting a low incidence rate (<= 140) with a stable or decreasing trend in new cases.

• Experts in the fields of immunology and virology have recently been raising concerns about the possibility of a new variant emerging in the future that could evade current vaccine-induced and natural immunity and therefore pose a risk to public health. Variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have been identified to-date are variations of the original virus that have arisen due to mutations. As the virus continues to replicate and spread, there remains a possibility for mutations to arise leading to new variants. Concern exists for the emergence of mutations that will provide the virus a selective advantage to escape or evade the protection provided through current vaccines and natural immunity. The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is of particular concern as it has spread rapidly in many regions worldwide and has been reported to have increased transmissibility compared to other SARS-CoV-2 variants. Given that new variants are likely to emerge more frequently among populations where many individuals are infected, the Delta variant has and will likely continue to acquire additional mutations as transmission continues. Mutations that provide the virus an advantage, such as evading the host immune response, will likely be selected for and such mutations may replicate and expand. However, these viral changes will likely occur gradually across emerging variants. These gradual changes allow for public health surveillance systems to follow how different versions of the SARSCoV-2 virus are evolving. They will also allow scientists to anticipate when versions of the virus have changed enough to merit the production of new vaccines that better match new variants. The mRNA technology employed by the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and the adenovirus platforms used by the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines should be adaptable to modify their effectiveness against new variants of the virus in the future

Regional Update

• Malaysia crossed the 1.7 million mark with 20,579 new COVID-19 cases on August 29. Malaysia’s Health Director-General said that Selangor remains the state with the most cases with 4,591 new cases on Sunday. A total of 455 cases or 2.2% out of the 20,579 new cases were in category three, four and five and that 15,651 of the cases reported involved those who have not been vaccinated or received incomplete vaccination. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are also increasing in Borneo Malaysia—Sabah has 2,578 new cases and Sarawak 2,522 new cases, taking second and third spots respectively. Johor reported 1,852 new cases, Kedah with 1,755, and Penang with 1,378 new COVID-19 infections, while Kuala Lumpur today reported 680 new infections.

• Laos’s National Taskforce for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has urged the public to comply with COVID-19 restrictions to avoid a third wave in Laos. Director-General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control said that the public must make a greater effort to comply with restrictions and prevention measures outlined by the government since Laos is at risk of a third major outbreak of community spread due to people meeting in groups and holding gatherings. Authorities are now urging the population to refrain from congregating in groups and to stay at their homes as much as possible. Despite the entry into red zones being prohibited, some residents continue to violate these restrictions by entering and exiting the red zone villages without permission,