‘Numbers in South-East Asia plateaued as cases in India were stable’

A woman scans a QR code to show contact tracing of her whereabouts before entering a shopping mall in Surabaya on August 10, as Indonesia implements a more restrictive form of lockdown. Pic/AFP

The COVID-19 numbers in the South-East Asia region peaked in early May and has since largely plateaued over the past month mainly due to cases in India remaining stable and consistent decreases in Indonesia and Myanmar over the past month, the WHO has said.

The COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, released by the World Health Organization on August 10, said that the South-East Asia Region reported over 799,000 new cases, a five per cent decrease as compared to the previous week, however, several countries in the Region continue to report increasing trends, including Sri Lanka and Thailand (26 per cent and 20 per cent increases, respectively).

"Case incidences in the region peaked in early May and have since largely plateaued over the past month. This is largely due to cases in India remaining stable, and consistent decreases in Indonesia and Myanmar over the past month," the update said. It added that following a steep increase in the mortality rate in the region, this is the first time in seven weeks that a decline in the number of new weekly deaths has been reported; a trend largely driven by declines in the Maldives and Myanmar this week.

Chinese mainland reports 61 new cases

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 61 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, including 38 in Jiangsu Province, 10 in Hubei, seven in Hunan, and three each in Henan and Yunnan, the National Health Commission said in its report on Thursday. Also reported were 20 new imported cases, including five each in Shanghai, Guangdong and Yunnan, three in Guangxi.

‘PoK polls super spreader event'

Pakistan's coronavirus response chief on Thursday said the recent assembly elections held in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) acted as a ‘super spreader event' as the country struggled to contain the fourth wave of COVID-19. Minister for Planning Asad Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre, blamed the July 25 polls for spike in the spread of the virus.

Hospitalisations, deaths to spike: US CDC warns

The US may see a spike in COVID-19 related hospitalisations and deaths over the next four weeks, the country's public health agency has warned, driven in large part by the highly infectious Delta variant. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published ensemble forecasts on Wednesday predicting 9,600 to 33,300 new confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions likely reported on September 6 and 3,300 to 12,600 new deaths likely reported in the week ending September 4. COVID-19 hospitalisations are reaching all-time highs in parts of the South in the US, with some patients unable to get the care they would normally receive, CNN reported. Across the country, states are struggling to fend off the Delta variant - the most contagious strain of coronavirus yet, it said. The Delta variant is highly contagious, nearly twice as contagious as previous variants, the CDC said last week.

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