A policeman inspects the travel documents of a motorist at a roadblock during the nationwide lockdown amid fears over the spread of COVID-19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Malaysia imposed a tough nationwide lockdown on Tuesday to battle a worsening coronavirus outbreak, as countries across Southeast Asia struggled with a resurgence in cases driven by infectious variants.

Much of the region escaped the pandemic's first wave in 2020 relatively unscathed by rapidly closing borders and introducing curbs.

But countries from Thailand to Vietnam are being hammered by fresh surges, with efforts to quell outbreaks hampered by slow vaccine rollouts and populations weary of restrictions.

Malaysia is among the worst hit countries. Of almost 2,800 deaths from COVID-19 recorded in the country of 32 million since the start of the pandemic, over 40 percent were in May alone.

More than 570,000 infections have been reported, with a string of new daily records last week.

As well as variants, the outbreak has been fanned by gatherings in the Muslim-majority country during the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday, often in defiance of coronavirus rules.

Under what authorities have termed a "total lockdown" in force from Tuesday, only essential businesses - such as supermarkets and medical clinics - can operate, people can only go outside for necessities, and most schools are closed. 

Travel between most parts of the country had already been banned for several months.

While there had been growing calls for tougher action, the lockdown will deal a fresh blow to many businesses that have struggled to stay afloat over the year 2000.

"The impact of the coronavirus on small businesses like mine is devastating," said Lilian Chua, whose hair salon outside the capital Kuala Lumpur will have to close.

"The government imposes a lockdown but the virus is in the air - they need to speed up vaccinations," the 42-year-old told AFP.

Fewer than 6 percent of Malaysia's population has so far received at least one vaccine dose.

AFP