Experts caution that while Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam are abandoning their zero-Covid policy, they are not yet ready to open up

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Despite experts' concerns that it may be too early, sections of Southeast Asia are abandoning their "zero-Covid" policy and charting a road toward living with the virus after months of quarantine.

 

This summer, Covid-19 spread across the region, fuelled by the highly contagious Delta strain, with cases rising sharply in July and peaking in most nations by August.

 

Governments like as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam are now looking to reopen borders and public places in order to revitalise their economies, notably the critical tourism industry.
Experts are concerned, however, that low vaccination rates in much of the region, as well as the widespread use of poor-efficacy vaccines such as China's Sinovac, could result in a disaster.

If vaccination rates aren't high enough with high-efficacy vaccinations before limitations are relaxed, health care systems in Southeast Asia could quickly become overloaded, according to Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

 

"You'll see a jump in severe cases, which will overload the ICU... beds, ventilators, and there will be a shortfall capacity challenge," he warned.

 

However, there appear to be few other options for the general people and many regional leaders.
Vaccines are in poor supply, and mass vaccination in many Southeast Asian countries is unlikely in the near future.
Families are going hungry as a result of people losing their jobs and being confined to their houses.

 

Small and medium-sized enterprises, according to Jean Garito, a diving school owner on Thailand's Phuket island, are yearning for borders to reopen.
He added that he wasn't sure how much longer the country's tourism business could last.

 

"Yes, if governments are unable to adequately compensate businesses for their losses in the short and long term, then we are all doomed," Garito added.

 

End of 'zero Covid'

In an attempt to limit the Covid wave, many Southeast Asian countries imposed stringent restrictions from June to August.

 

Malaysia and Indonesia implemented statewide lockdowns, while Thailand and Vietnam implemented lockdowns in high-risk areas.
Millions of people were urged to stay at home as much as possible and were prevented from travelling inside the country; schools were shuttered, public transportation was suspended, and public gatherings were prohibited.

 

Daily new cases have decreased in the region since then, though they remain high.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data, the Philippines reports about 20,000 cases each day, with Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia each reporting about 15,000 cases every 24 hours.
Indonesia's infection rates have dropped the highest, with only a few thousand cases reported every day.

 

The peak has barely passed, and vaccination rates in some locations are alarmingly low — but some governments are already reopening.

 

According to Reuters, Vietnam aims to reopen the vacation island of Phu Quoc to international tourists next month.
The decision was made because to economic pressures, with the tourism minister stating that the pandemic had "seriously harmed" the travel business.
According to CNN's worldwide vaccine tracker, just about 7% of the population has been fully vaccinated, well short of the 70 percent to 90 percent listed by experts as a requirement for herd immunity.

 

Thailand aims to reopen its capital, Bangkok, and other major tourist spots to foreign visitors by October, in the hopes of reviving the country's faltering tourism industry, which accounted for more than 11% of GDP in 2019, according to Reuters.
According to CNN's vaccine tracker, about 21% of Thailand's population has been properly vaccinated.

 

Indonesia, which has vaccinated almost 16 percent of its people, has also loosened restrictions, enabling public venues to reopen and enterprises to resume full production.
According to Reuters, foreign tourists may be allowed into certain sections of the country by October, including the resort island of Bali.

 

Malaysia, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the area, with over 56 percent of its people completely vaccinated, reopened Langkawi, a cluster of 99 islands and the country's most popular tourist destination, to domestic visitors last week.

Several states have also begun to ease restrictions for persons who have been vaccinated, including as dining in restaurants and interstate travel.

In some aspects, the swift reopening of the region parallels the "living with Covid" attitude taken in Western countries such as the United Kingdom and portions of the United States, where daily life has mostly returned as usual.

 

According to Abhishek Rimal, regional emergency health coordinator of the International Federation of Red Cross, Singapore has "openly come out" in turning away from the former "zero-Covid" policy.

Others have not made any formal statements, but their quick reopening implies governments are considering the strategy's long-term viability.

"There have been talks among scientists all around the world about what will happen to Covid in the future," Rimal remarked.
"One possibility is that it will become an endemic disease in the future...
We're leaning toward Covid becoming an integral part of our lives."