Asean reported over 27,000 new Covid-19 cases on Friday

Singapore’s medical technology firm Acumen Diagnostics announced on Friday that its two PCR test kits - Acu-Corona 2.0 and Acu-Corona Duplex - which can detect the Delta variant, can also identify the Omicron strain. The firm said that since the kits are manufactured locally, they can be deployed quickly and cost about half the price of imported ones. The firm currently operates two laboratories that can process 7,000 diagnostic tests daily.

Vietnam’s Department of Education and Training has said that secondary and high school students in HCM City will have 12 to 30 in-person lessons per week, depending on Covid-19 risk levels, when the city allows schools to reopen. Students attending schools in areas of low risk would have no more than 30 in-person lessons per week, while extra classes will be held online.