In Asia, there are over 100 million Covid cases, with 1 million every 48 hours
Key Takeaways:
- On Wednesday, the number of Coronavirus infections in Asia surpassed 100 million, as the region experiences a resurgence in cases, with the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant dominating.
- China has reported over 45,000 new cases since this year, which is more than it did in 2021.
As per the Reuters tally, the number of Coronavirus infections in Asia surpassed 100 million on Wednesday, as the region sees a resurgence in cases, dominated by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant.
According to a Reuters analysis, the region reports over 1 million new COVID-19 cases every two days. Asia accounts for 21% of all COVID-19 cases reported, despite having more than half of the world's population.
In countries like South Korea, China, and Vietnam, the highly contagious but less lethal BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron has pushed the numbers to new highs in recent weeks. According to the World Health Organization, BA.2 now accounts for nearly 86 percent of sequenced cases.
According to a Reuters analysis, South Korea leads the world in the daily average number of new cases reported, accounting for one out of every four infections reported globally.
While the number of cases has decreased since early March, the country reports over 300 deaths per day on average, with authorities ordering crematoriums across the country to stay open longer.
China has been battling the pandemic's worst outbreak since it began. Shanghai has been placed under lockdown due to increased COVID cases fueled by the BA.2 substrain. On Monday, the city imposed a two-stage lockdown on its 26 million residents, restricting movement across bridges and highways to contain the outbreak.
Since the beginning of this year, China has reported over 45,000 new cases, which is more than it did in 2021. Although 90% of China's population has been inoculated, not enough elderly people have received booster doses, leaving them vulnerable to reinfection.
Though China is sticking to its plan to contain the outbreak, international experts are sceptical of lockdowns' effectiveness in the face of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
"It's clear from Australia as well as elsewhere that lockdowns are ineffective against Omicron – so expect a big wave," said Adrian Esterman, a biostatistician at the University of South Australia.
India has 43 million COVID cases, more than the next three worst-affected Asian countries, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.
For the past 11 days, India has reported fewer than 2,000 cases per day, compared to over 300,000 cases per day in January this year.
In March, Asia reached a milestone of 1 million COVID-related deaths. COVID-related deaths have now totaled 1,027,586 million across the continent.
Compared to their predecessors, vaccines are thought to be less effective against the BA.2 subvariant. Studies have shown Omicron to re-infect people who have previously been diagnosed with different coronavirus variants.