Abstract

The world has been challenged by rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreaks for a year now. Southeast Asian countries have had different strategies to deal withthe pandemic. This review aimed to elaborate on Southeast Asian countries’ strategies in managing the trade-off between economic and public health, withfurther consideration of how such approaches were associated with the dynamics of the number of cases and the speed of economic recovery. This reviewevaluated the COVID-19 mitigation efforts spanning one year in the Southeast Asian (SEA) countries listed based on the Bloomberg COVID ResilienceRanking. As of May 24, 2021, three SEA countries (Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia) were chosen from the better (27th), moderate (35th), and worst (42nd)SEA country rankings. Peer-reviewed articles were obtained from Google Scholar and PubMed databases, and news articles were retrieved from GoogleNews. The data from government websites were also included. Sources were limited to those in the English and Indonesian languages that could be accessedbetween January 2020 and May 2021. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia were found to have significantly prioritized consideration of the economy in handlingthe pandemic. Malaysia and Thailand had more stringent policies of imposing national lockdowns, while Indonesia had a partial lockdown. It was found thata weak pandemic response may result in substantial economic loss.

References

1.Fan G, Yang Z, Lin Q, Zhao S, Yang L, He D. Decreased case fatalityrate of COVID‐19 in the second wave: a study in 53 countries orregions. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. 2021;68(2):213-5.2.World Health Organization. Confirmed and probable COVID-19 casesand deaths by age from WHO COVID-19 surveillance data dashboard;2021.3.de Bruin YB, Lequarre A-S, McCourt J, Clevestig P, Pigazzani F, Jeddi MZ, et al. Initial impacts of global risk mitigation measures taken during the combatting of the COVID-19 pandemic. Safety Science. 2020;128:104773.4.World Health Organization. WHO COVID-19 dashboard Geneva;2020. 5.Kerrissey MJ, Edmondson AC. What good leadership looks like duringthis pandemic. Harvard Business Review. 2020; 13(1). 6.Wilson S. Pandemic leadership: lessons from New Zealand’s approachto COVID-19. Leadership. 2020;16(3):279-93. 7.Lin Z, Meissner CM. Health vs. wealth? Public health policies and theeconomy during COVID-19. National Bureau of Economic Research;2020. 8.Bloomberg. The COVID resilience ranking; 2021 [cited June 7, 2021]. 9.Sirilak S, Iamsirithaworn S, Hinjoy S, Janejai N, Thaiprayoon S,Keawpramkusol R, et al. Thailand’s experience in the COVID-19response. Bangkok: Ministry of Public Health of Thailand; 2020 [cited2021 1 May]. 10.Department of Diseases Control. The coronavirus disease 2019situation Bangkok. Ministry of Public Health of Thailand; 2020. 11.New Straits Times. 3 Coronavirus cases confirmed in Johor Baru. NewStraits Times; 2020. 12.Edinur HA, Safuan S. Sri Petaling COVID-19 cluster in Malaysia:challenges and the mitigation strategies. Acta Biomedica. 2020; 91(4). 13.Worldometer. COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic; 2021 [cited June 72021]. 14.Our World in Data. Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19); 2020. 15.Marome W, Shaw R. COVID-19 response in Thailand and itsimplications on future preparedness. 2021 [cited 2021 1 May]; 18(3). 16.Zainul E. Health Ministry places order for 800 new ventilators forCOVID-19 treatment. The Edge Markets; 2020 [cited 2021 June 7]. 17.Hamzah NM, Yu MM, See KF. Assessing the efficiency of Malaysiahealth system in COVID-19 prevention and treatment response.Health Care Management Science. 2021:1-13. 18.Data World Bank. Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) - Indonesia; 2021. 19.Shidiq AR. Our health system’s capacity vs demand from large-scalesocial distancing. The Jakarta Post; 2020. 20.Phua J, Faruq MO, Kulkarni AP, Redjeki IS, Detleuxay K,Mendsaikhan N, et al. Critical care bed capacity in Asian countriesand regions. Critical Care Medicine. 2020; 48(5):654-62. 21.Shah AUM, Safri SNA, Thevadas R, Noordin NK, Abd Rahman A,Sekawi Z, et al. COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia: actions taken by theMalaysian government. International Journal of Infectious Diseases.2020;97:108-16. 22.Salim N, Chan WH, Mansor S, Bazin NEN, Amaran S, Faudzi AAM,et al. COVID-19 epidemic in Malaysia: impact of lockdown oninfection dynamics. medRxiv; 2020. 23.Bunyan J. PM: Malaysia under movement control order from Weduntil March 31, all shops closed except for essential services Malaysia.Malaymail; 2020. 24.Teoh S. Malaysia to impose total nationwide lockdown from June 1-14as COVID-19 cases hit new record. The Straits Times; 2021 [cited2021 June 7]. 25.Yu Z, Razzaq A, Rehman A, Shah A, Jameel K, Mor RS. Disruption inglobal supply chain and socio-economic shocks: a lesson fromCOVID-19 for sustainable production and consumption. OperationsManagement Research. 2021:1-16. 26.Hakim RN. Lagi, Jokowi sentil para menteri soal rendahnya realisasianggaran COVID-19. Kompas.com; 2020. 27.Nugraheny DE. Ketua Dewan Guru Besar FKUI sarankan pemerintahlockdown daerah terjangkit COVID-19. Kompas.com; 2020. 28.The Jakarta Post. COVID-19: Ombudsman slams govt for ‘focusingtoo much on economic recovery; 2020. 29.The World Bank. Thailand economic monitor January 2021: restoringincomes; recovering jobs. Wahsington, DC: The World Bank; 2021. 30.Theparat C. B205bn health budget agreed. Bangkok Post; 2021. 31.Department of Statistics Malaysia. Malaysia economic performancefourth quarter 2020. Department of Statistics Malaysia; 2021 [cited2021 June 7]. 32.Administration IT. Malaysia healthcare. International TradeAdministration; 2020 [cited 2021 June 7]. 33.Kementerian Keuangan Republik Indonesia. Anggaran pendapatandan belanja negara 2020. In: Ministry of Finance, editor; 2020. 34.Kementerian Keuangan Republik Indonesia. Perubahan postur danrincian APBN 2020 di masa pandemi COVID-19 [press release];2020. 35.Rizal JG. Pandemi COVID-19, apa saja dampak pada sektorketenagakerjaan Indonesia? Kompas.com; 2020. 36.Guridno E, Guridno A. COVID-19 impact: Indonesia tourism in newnormal era. Int J Manag Humanit. 2020; 4(11):31-4. 37.Susilawati S, Falefi R, Purwoko A. Impact of COVID-19’s pandemicon the economy of Indonesia. Budapest International Research andCritics Institute (BIRCI-Journal): Humanities and Social Sciences.2020; 3(2):1147-56. 38.Badan Pusat Statistik. Ekonomi Indonesia 2020 turun sebesar 2,07persen (c-to-c) [press release]; 2021. 39.Casey BH. COVID-19: is there a trade-off between economic damageand loss of life? London: The London Scholl of Economics andPolitical Science; 2020. 40.Janjua LR, Muhammad F, Sukjai P, Rehman A, Yu Z. Impact ofCOVID-19 pandemic on logistics performance, economic growth andtourism industry of Thailand: an empirical forecasting using ARIMA.2021 [cited 2021 1 May]; 18(2):1-15. 41.Taylor M. PM to chair meeting on Thailand’s re-opening as Phuketofficials demand clarity. The Thaiger; 2021 [cited 2021 June 7].42.Theparat C. Phuket set for July re-opening Bangkok. Bangkok Post; 2021 [cited 2021 7 June].43.The Star. COVID-19: public can now contribute to Health Ministry. The Star; 2020 [cited 2021 June 7].44.Cheng C. COVID-19 in Malaysia: economic impacts & fiscal responses. Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia; 2020.45.Prasetia A. Genjot pariwisata di tengah corona, Jokowi beri turis diskon. Detik News; 2020.46.Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Republik Indonesia. Pemerintah gelontorkan berbagai stimulus dorong pemulihan sektor pariwisata [press release]; 2021.47.Wipatayotin A, Theparat C. B6bn COVID vaccine budget Bangkok. Bangkok Post; 2020 [cited 2021 7 June].48.Ritchie H, Ortiz-Ospina E, Beltekian D, Mathieu E, Hasell J, Macdonald B, et al. Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations. Our World in Data; 2021 [cited 2021 June 7].49.Lee YN. Malaysia’s COVID lockdown puts ‘a lot of pressure’ on government finances, says minister. CNBC; 2021 [cited 2021 June 7].50.CodeBlue. Minister: RM3 bil COVID-19 vaccine allocation not in budget 2021. CodeBlue; 2021 [cited 2021 June 7].51.Ayuningtyas D, Haq HU, Utami RRM. Initiating global civil society as a strategy for handling the COVID-19 public health threat: a policy review. Kesmas: Jurnal Kesehatan Masyarakat Nasional (National Public Health Journal); 2020.52.Gunia A. Southeast Asia kept COVID-19 under control for most of the pandemic. Now it’s battling worrying new surges Hong Kong. Time; 2021.53.Majid TSM. COVID-19: panic and the Malaysian economy. New Straits Times; 2020 [cited 2021 June 7].54.Sparrow R, Dartanto T, Hartwig R. Indonesia under the new normal: challenges and the way ahead. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies. 2020;56(3):269-99.

Download

Share

COinS