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Experts Doubt Low Coronavirus Counts of Some Southeast Asian Countries

Zsombor Peter

   KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Health experts say the low Covid-19 case
   numbers some Southeast Asian countries are reporting -- some still in
   the single digits -- have much more to do with limited testing than
   reality. They warn that faulty figures may breed a false sense of
   security and help the virus causing the deadly disease to spread.

   Laos and Myanmar, which both border China, where the global coronavirus
   pandemic sprouted late last year, were still reporting zero cases early
   last week. Laos has since confirmed six cases as of Saturday. Myanmar,
   which borders China for more than 2,000 kilometers, has confirmed
   eight.

   Cambodia and Vietnam, which also share close cultural and commercial
   ties with China, have reported 104 and 169 cases respectively, more
   than Laos or Myanmar but still on the low end.

   "That's just a consequence of very limited testing capacity and weak
   surveillance, and that's just a reality," said Mark Simmerman, a
   private health consultant based in Thailand and a former epidemiologist
   for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who worked on
   the region's response to the SARS outbreak in 2003.

   "These very small numbers are unrealistic," he said.

   Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, meanwhile, each now have confirmed
   cases into the thousands, although even there, some health experts are
   complaining. In Indonesia, national Red Cross chief Jusuf Kalla has
   said there were likely far more infections than the country was
   reporting, given low levels of testing.

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