Speed up vaccination, use strict measures to prevent another surge: WHO to Southeast Asian countries

The World Health Organization on Sunday urged Southeast Asian countries to speed up Covid-19 vaccination and rigorously implement public health measures to prevent another surge in cases. Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, WHO South-East Asia, said these measures needed to be enforced for longer durations, considering that more transmissible "Variants of Concern" were spreading in several countries. "We need to continuously strengthen our efforts to test, trace and isolate," Singh said. "Societal interventions such as physical distancing, hand hygiene and proper wearing of masks needs to be stringently implemented." Singh added that public health and social measures were cost-effective…