posted with permission
hat tip Jason Gale
(BN) It?s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Deluge Developing Countries
It?s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Deluge Developing Countries
2021-05-03 21:00:00.0 GMT
By Jinshan Hong, Randy Thanthong-Knight and Jason Scott
(Bloomberg) -- It?s not just India. Fierce new Covid-19
waves are enveloping other developing countries across the
world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and
prompting appeals for help.
Nations ranging from Laos to Thailand in Southeast Asia,
and those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, have been
reporting significant surges in infections in the past few
weeks. The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus
variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain
the spread have also been cited as reasons.
In Laos last week, the health minister sought medical
equipment, supplies and treatment, as cases jumped more than
200-fold in a month. Nepal is seeing hospitals quickly filling
up and running out of oxygen supplies. Health facilities are
under pressure in Thailand, where 98% of new cases are from a
more infectious strain of the pathogen, while some island
nations in the Pacific Ocean are facing their first Covid waves.
Although nowhere close to India?s population or flare-up in
scope, the reported spikes in these handful of nations have been
far steeper, signaling the potential dangers of an uncontrolled
spread. The resurgence -- and first-time outbreaks in some
places that largely avoided the scourge last year -- heightens
the urgency of delivering vaccine supplies to poorer, less
influential countries and averting a protracted pandemic.
?It?s very important to realize that the situation in India
can happen anywhere,? said Hans Kluge, the regional director at
the World Health Organization for Europe, during a briefing last
week. ?This is still a huge challenge.?
Ranked by the change in newly recorded infections in the
past month over the previous month, Laos came first with a
22,000% increase, followed by Nepal and Thailand, both of which
saw fresh caseload skyrocketing more than 1,000% on a month-
over-month basis.
Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago,
Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic
erupt at a high triple-digit pace.
?All countries are at risk,? said David Heymann, a
professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. ?The disease appears to
be becoming endemic and will therefore likely remain a risk to
all countries for the foreseeable future.?
*T
================================================== ==============
Read more on India?s crisis:
================================================== ==============
Indian Diaspora Struggles to Help Homeland ?Gasping for
Air??Please Help!?: Covid Tragedy Spills Onto Social Media in
IndiaDelhi Extends Lockdown by a Week to Control Virus Outbreak
*T
On May 1, India reported a record 401,993 new cases in the
prior 24 hours, while deaths touched a new high of 3,689 the
following day. The nation?s hospitals and crematoriums are
working overtime to cope with the sick and the surging number of
deaths. Compounding the crisis, health-care facilities are also
facing a shortage of medical oxygen, unable to treat distressed
patients with coronavirus-infected lungs gasping for air at
their doorsteps.
The abrupt outbreak in Laos -- a place that only recorded
60 cases since the start of the pandemic through April 20 and no
death to date -- shows the challenges facing some of the
landlocked nations. Porous borders make it harder to clamp down
on illegal crossings though entry is technically banned.
Communist-ruled Laos has ordered lockdowns in its capital
Vientiane and banned travel between the capital and provinces.
The health minister reached out to neighbors like Vietnam for
assistance on life-saving resources. Nepal and Bhutan have seen
cases erupt, in part due to returning nationals. Nepal, which
has identified cases of the new Indian variant, has limited
resources to combat the virus.
?Very Serious?
The situation is ?very serious,? according to Ali Mokdad,
Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health at the University
of Washington. ?New variants will require a new vaccine and a
booster for those already vaccinated -- they will delay the
control of the pandemic.?
Mokdad said the economic hardship of poorer countries make
the battle even tougher.
Thailand, which had been seeking to revive its ailing
tourism industry, just reintroduced a two-week mandatory
quarantine for all visitors. A government forecast for 2021
tourism revenue was cut to 170 billion baht ($5.4 billion), from
January?s expectations for 260 billion baht. With the country?s
public health system under pressure, authorities are trying to
set up field hospitals to accommodate a flood of patients.
About 98% of cases in Thailand are of the variant first
identified in the U.K. based on a sample of 500 people,
according to Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Center of Excellence
in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University.
Red Zone
In Cambodia, since the beginning of the current outbreak,
more than 10,000 locally acquired cases have been detected in
more than 20 provinces. The Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is now
a ?red zone,? or a high-risk outbreak area. In Sri Lanka, the
island-nation at the southern tip of India, authorities have
isolated areas, banned weddings and meetings and closed cinemas
and pubs to cap a record spike following last month?s local New
Year festivities. The government says the situation is under
control.
Across the oceans in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago
announced a partial lockdown after the country?s daily cases hit
a record high, closing restaurants, malls and cinemas until late
May. The case count in the latest month is about 700% more than
the previous month.
That high level of increase is also seen in Suriname, on
the northeastern coast of South America. Cases in April rose
over 600% from that in March.
After staying relatively Covid-free thanks to strict border
controls, some of the Pacific island-nations are now seeing
their first wave. Cities in the tourist hot spot of Fiji have
gone into lockdown after the wider community contracted the
virus from the military.
?The recent rise in recorded cases throughout the Pacific
reveals how critical it is to not just rely on strong borders
but to actually get vaccines into these countries,? said
Jonathan Pryke, who heads research on the Pacific region for the
Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank. ?India is a shocking
warning to this part of the world about how quickly this
pandemic can spiral out of control.?
There?s a duty for developed countries, recovering from the
pandemic thanks to rapid inoculations, to contribute to a more
equitable global distribution of vaccines, diagnostic tests and
therapeutic agents including oxygen, according to Heymann, the
professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
?The developed world can and should contribute funding and
at the same time share with other countries any excess vaccines
they may have in stock,? he said.
--With assistance from Anusha Ondaatjie.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Jinshan Hong in Hong Kong at jhong214@bloomberg.net;
Randy Thanthong-Knight in Bangkok at rthanthongkn@bloomberg.net;
Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Rachel Chang at wchang98@bloomberg.net
Sam Nagarajan
hat tip Jason Gale
(BN) It?s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Deluge Developing Countries
It?s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Deluge Developing Countries
2021-05-03 21:00:00.0 GMT
By Jinshan Hong, Randy Thanthong-Knight and Jason Scott
(Bloomberg) -- It?s not just India. Fierce new Covid-19
waves are enveloping other developing countries across the
world, placing severe strain on their health-care systems and
prompting appeals for help.
Nations ranging from Laos to Thailand in Southeast Asia,
and those bordering India such as Bhutan and Nepal, have been
reporting significant surges in infections in the past few
weeks. The increase is mainly because of more contagious virus
variants, though complacency and lack of resources to contain
the spread have also been cited as reasons.
In Laos last week, the health minister sought medical
equipment, supplies and treatment, as cases jumped more than
200-fold in a month. Nepal is seeing hospitals quickly filling
up and running out of oxygen supplies. Health facilities are
under pressure in Thailand, where 98% of new cases are from a
more infectious strain of the pathogen, while some island
nations in the Pacific Ocean are facing their first Covid waves.
Although nowhere close to India?s population or flare-up in
scope, the reported spikes in these handful of nations have been
far steeper, signaling the potential dangers of an uncontrolled
spread. The resurgence -- and first-time outbreaks in some
places that largely avoided the scourge last year -- heightens
the urgency of delivering vaccine supplies to poorer, less
influential countries and averting a protracted pandemic.
?It?s very important to realize that the situation in India
can happen anywhere,? said Hans Kluge, the regional director at
the World Health Organization for Europe, during a briefing last
week. ?This is still a huge challenge.?
Ranked by the change in newly recorded infections in the
past month over the previous month, Laos came first with a
22,000% increase, followed by Nepal and Thailand, both of which
saw fresh caseload skyrocketing more than 1,000% on a month-
over-month basis.
Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago,
Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic
erupt at a high triple-digit pace.
?All countries are at risk,? said David Heymann, a
professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. ?The disease appears to
be becoming endemic and will therefore likely remain a risk to
all countries for the foreseeable future.?
*T
================================================== ==============
Read more on India?s crisis:
================================================== ==============
Indian Diaspora Struggles to Help Homeland ?Gasping for
Air??Please Help!?: Covid Tragedy Spills Onto Social Media in
IndiaDelhi Extends Lockdown by a Week to Control Virus Outbreak
*T
On May 1, India reported a record 401,993 new cases in the
prior 24 hours, while deaths touched a new high of 3,689 the
following day. The nation?s hospitals and crematoriums are
working overtime to cope with the sick and the surging number of
deaths. Compounding the crisis, health-care facilities are also
facing a shortage of medical oxygen, unable to treat distressed
patients with coronavirus-infected lungs gasping for air at
their doorsteps.
The abrupt outbreak in Laos -- a place that only recorded
60 cases since the start of the pandemic through April 20 and no
death to date -- shows the challenges facing some of the
landlocked nations. Porous borders make it harder to clamp down
on illegal crossings though entry is technically banned.
Communist-ruled Laos has ordered lockdowns in its capital
Vientiane and banned travel between the capital and provinces.
The health minister reached out to neighbors like Vietnam for
assistance on life-saving resources. Nepal and Bhutan have seen
cases erupt, in part due to returning nationals. Nepal, which
has identified cases of the new Indian variant, has limited
resources to combat the virus.
?Very Serious?
The situation is ?very serious,? according to Ali Mokdad,
Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health at the University
of Washington. ?New variants will require a new vaccine and a
booster for those already vaccinated -- they will delay the
control of the pandemic.?
Mokdad said the economic hardship of poorer countries make
the battle even tougher.
Thailand, which had been seeking to revive its ailing
tourism industry, just reintroduced a two-week mandatory
quarantine for all visitors. A government forecast for 2021
tourism revenue was cut to 170 billion baht ($5.4 billion), from
January?s expectations for 260 billion baht. With the country?s
public health system under pressure, authorities are trying to
set up field hospitals to accommodate a flood of patients.
About 98% of cases in Thailand are of the variant first
identified in the U.K. based on a sample of 500 people,
according to Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Center of Excellence
in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University.
Red Zone
In Cambodia, since the beginning of the current outbreak,
more than 10,000 locally acquired cases have been detected in
more than 20 provinces. The Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is now
a ?red zone,? or a high-risk outbreak area. In Sri Lanka, the
island-nation at the southern tip of India, authorities have
isolated areas, banned weddings and meetings and closed cinemas
and pubs to cap a record spike following last month?s local New
Year festivities. The government says the situation is under
control.
Across the oceans in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago
announced a partial lockdown after the country?s daily cases hit
a record high, closing restaurants, malls and cinemas until late
May. The case count in the latest month is about 700% more than
the previous month.
That high level of increase is also seen in Suriname, on
the northeastern coast of South America. Cases in April rose
over 600% from that in March.
After staying relatively Covid-free thanks to strict border
controls, some of the Pacific island-nations are now seeing
their first wave. Cities in the tourist hot spot of Fiji have
gone into lockdown after the wider community contracted the
virus from the military.
?The recent rise in recorded cases throughout the Pacific
reveals how critical it is to not just rely on strong borders
but to actually get vaccines into these countries,? said
Jonathan Pryke, who heads research on the Pacific region for the
Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank. ?India is a shocking
warning to this part of the world about how quickly this
pandemic can spiral out of control.?
There?s a duty for developed countries, recovering from the
pandemic thanks to rapid inoculations, to contribute to a more
equitable global distribution of vaccines, diagnostic tests and
therapeutic agents including oxygen, according to Heymann, the
professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
?The developed world can and should contribute funding and
at the same time share with other countries any excess vaccines
they may have in stock,? he said.
--With assistance from Anusha Ondaatjie.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Jinshan Hong in Hong Kong at jhong214@bloomberg.net;
Randy Thanthong-Knight in Bangkok at rthanthongkn@bloomberg.net;
Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Rachel Chang at wchang98@bloomberg.net
Sam Nagarajan