Malaysia's Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 26, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Malaysia Information Department/Zarith Zulkifli)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia’s government on December16 declared a state of emergency to stop by-elections in two constituenciesscheduled for next month, as the country recorded a spike in coronavirus casesover the past few months.
The nation has seen a leap in cases since September, withthe total number of infections exceeding 86,000, including 422 deaths as of December15.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a statement the kinghad assented to the request to impose an emergency in the Bugaya constituencyin Sabah on Borneo, the state that health authorities believe was the epicentreof the country’s third wave of infections, and the Gerik constituency in Perakstate.
The government had declared a state of emergency in anotherconstituency in Sabah last month, also to stop a scheduled by-election.
The same day, the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesiaincreased by 6,725 to 636,154, with the death toll adding by 137 to 19,248, accordingto its Health Ministry. The coronavirus has spread to all of the country's 34provinces.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health of the Philippinesreported 1,156 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the totalnumber in the country to 452,988. The death toll climbed to 8,833./.
VNA
