Malaysia’s new coronavirus cases rose to the highest level in more than three months as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads in the Southeast Asian nation.
The nation reported 7,234 new infections on Friday, the most since Oct. 16, data from the health ministry shows.
The spike in cases comes a day after Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government is focusing on the severity of the infections, rather than the number. While Malaysia is grappling with community transmission of omicron, Khairy said the nation is better protected now -- nearly 52% of adults have received booster shots -- and knows how to protect the most vulnerable.
Malaysia extended its Covid-19 immunization drive to children as young as eleven years old on Thursday. As of Tuesday, 517,107 children, 15% of the total cohort, registered for their shots, Khairy said in a tweet on Feb. 1. "I’m hopeful that almost half the kids in Malaysia will get vaccinated by the end of February,” he added in the tweet.
