Malaysia battles COVID surge

She documented her family’s struggles to her millions of followers on Instagram, as her symptoms worsened from mild to life-threatening. Doctors put her into an induced coma on Friday to extract the baby, who survived, according to The New Straits Times.

Ms. Raisuddin died three days later. The death of Ms. Raisuddin — who performed as Siti Sarah — came as Malaysia is struggling with its worst wave yet of coronavirus infections, despite nationwide restrictions in place since June. The country recorded 20,780 cases on Wednesday, just short of its peak of 20,889 reached last week, and added 211 deaths. It has the highest number of reported cases per capita in Southeast Asia, where a number of other countries are also facing their worst outbreaks of the pandemic, driven mostly by the more contagious Delta variant of the virus.

Despite the strain on hospitals as case and death numbers remain high, the Malaysian government is relaxing restrictions in eight states for those who are fully vaccinated, allowing privileges like dining in at restaurants and tourism to other states. The restrictions in Kuala Lumpur, the capital and largest city, will not be eased. Just 29 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to a New York Times database.

Ms. Raisuddin’s death shocked many of her fans, with thousands of people leaving comments on her Instagram posts and the king and queen offering condolences on Facebook. In a video posted last week, she hugged her children while wearing an oxygen mask. On Aug. 1, she asked for prayers for her family.

Her husband, Shahmira Muhamad, and the three children went into isolation and later tested negative, but Ms. Raisuddin was rushed to the hospital last week because of low oxygen levels, according to The New Straits Times.

“She fought hard to save our baby,” her husband said, according to the newspaper. They named the newborn boy Ayash Affan — her choice, he said. (NYT)