South East Asians consider emergency powers as coronavirus spreads

Health workers in protective suits wait for patients in a tent erected to test for coronavirus at a clinic, during the movement control order due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng

MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Southeast Asian countries considered more emergency powers on Monday to tackle the threat of the coronavirus as the biggest daily jump in cases in Malaysia took the number of infections in the region above 4,000.

The virus has killed nearly 100 people since the number of cases started to shoot up early this month. Nearly half the fatalities in Southeast Asia have been in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country.