According to the Straits Times (Singapore), the Covid-19 epidemic is once again rapidly spreading across Asia, prompting governments to adopt epidemic prevention measures, but in a new way, different from the time when there was no vaccine. It focuses on booster vaccinations and close monitoring of hospital admissions.
The cause of the new wave is also BA.4 and BA.5 Omicrons like the rest of the world. Indonesia has seen the number of Covid-19 cases increase more than 6 times in the 4 weeks of June – the highest rate of increase in the world during that period. Jakarta and neighboring places require restaurants and shopping centers to accept guests up to 75% of capacity. From July 17, Indonesia will reintroduce the requirement for Covid-19 testing for tourists who have just received 2 basic injections. The number of Covid-19 cases in Thailand has also risen again after falling in April, now at around 2,000 cases/day, not counting the number of people with rapid self-tests.
South Korean health authorities have also just confirmed a new wave of Covid-19, with the number of new infections continuously exceeding 18,000 cases in 4 consecutive days last week. Japan said it welcomed the 7th wave with 47 provinces and cities with a weekly increase in cases, the highest of which was Tokyo with 9,482 cases on July 10, 2.5 times more than a week ago.
A woman looks through a hole in a gated residential area in Shanghai, China, on July 11. Photo: REUTERS
The Asia hot spot returned to India once again with 112,456 new cases and 200 deaths in the week ending July 3. This is also the country where the new sub-variant BA.2.75 is included, which US scientists consider the risk of competing with BA. 5.
Some other parts of the world have distributed BA.2.75 registered. “It’s too early to say, but it seems that the transfer rate of BA.2.75 is exponential, especially in India,” said Matthew Binniker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic System (America).
Of the Asian countries, only China is still pursuing the “Zero Covid-19” policy. On July 10, the city of Shanghai announced a new case of subtype BA.5.2.1. Reuters quoted China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention as saying this subline was first discovered in China on May 13 in a patient from Uganda entering Shanghai. Many Chinese cities continue to ramp up mass testing and suspend some business locations.
@ cafefu