Coronavirus: a fresh, but mild, Covid wave is rippling through Asia
- Singapore’s infections doubled in last week of March to highest this year; Indonesia’s daily cases at 4-month high; Vietnam ramping up prevention measures
- The wave is being attributed to a mix of XBB subvariants – a highly transmissible Omicron strain that, so far, isn’t causing widespread severe illness
A number of Asian nations are reporting an uptick in Covid-19 infections as the region treats the virus as endemic, with the fresh wave exerting limited pressure on healthcare systems.
Singapore’s infections almost doubled in the final week of March to the highest this year, data from the Ministry of Health showed. India reported its biggest single-day tally since late-August, while Indonesia’s daily caseload is near a four-month high and Vietnam is ramping up virus prevention measures.
While infections are rising, countries across Asia are attributing the wave to a mix of XBB subvariants – a highly transmissible Omicron strain that, so far, isn’t causing widespread severe illness. Most of the region’s population have been vaccinated or had prior infections and governments have counselled that new coronavirus waves are to be expected from time to time after the pivot to living with Covid-19 and dismantling many curbs.
In Singapore, which dropped most mask mandates in February due to the significantly reduced threat from Covid, weekly cases topped 28,000 by the end of March, up from 14,467 a week earlier.
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India, which endured a fatal wave in 2021 that saw many hospitals run out of oxygen and beds, reported more than 10,150 new infections on Thursday. While hospitals and clinics haven’t seen a rise in admissions, the country has been conducting mock drills this week to check for preparedness and a handful of states have imposed new mask mandates.
Indonesia’s caseload has risen in recent months as the government eased mobility curbs, with daily infections reaching 987 on Wednesday. President Joko Widodo, addressing the wave on Thursday, urged citizens to take a second booster shot, though said the country’s high level of immunity meant the situation was “still well under control”.
Vietnam’s health ministry ordered new preventive measures at schools and close monitoring at border gates to detect cases and prevent community spread after reporting 639 new cases in the past seven days, a roughly fourfold increase from a week earlier. Meanwhile, cases in the Philippines have plateaued since February and there was just a single Covid-19 death in March.
