COVID-19: Southeast Asian countries urged to step up efforts

The World Health Organization on Tuesday called on member states in the Southeast Asia region to urgently scale-up measures to combat COVID-19, as confirmed cases cross 480 and the disease claimed eight lives.

"The situation is evolving rapidly. We need to immediately scale-up all efforts to prevent the virus from infecting more people," said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO Southeast Asia region.

Eight of the 11 countries of the WHO Southeast Asia region have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

While Thailand has 177 confirmed cases, Indonesia 134, India 137, Sri Lanka 19, Maldives 13, Bangladesh five, Nepal and Bhutan one each.

"More clusters of virus transmission are being confirmed. While this is an indication of an alert and effective surveillance, it also puts the spotlight on the need for more aggressive and whole of society efforts to prevent further spread of COVID-19. We clearly need to do more, and urgently," the regional director said.

Looking at the numbers, some countries are clearly heading towards community transmission of COVID-19, the regional director said, adding this should best be prevented.

"Of critical importance are continued efforts to detect, test, treat, isolate and trace contacts. Simple public health measures are critical. Practising hand hygiene, covering your cough and sneeze, and practising social distancing cannot be emphasised enough," Dr Khetrapal Singh said.

"This alone has the potential to substantially reduce transmission. However, if community transmission does set in, countries would need to gear their responses to slow down transmission, as well as end outbreaks," she said.