Singapore (Reuters) – India, South Korea and Thailand faced increasing coronavirus infections on Thursday, undermining the cautious hope that Asia could emerge from the worst pandemic as security concerns cause the vaccination.
India reported a record 126,789 new cases, the third day of this week tariffs rose to more than 100,000, and the authorities marveled at the crowd and reluctance to wear masks, while shops and offices again opening, is surprised.
Some infectious variants of the virus may have played a role in India’s rise, some epidemiologists believe, with hundreds of cases being found of variants first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.
The alarming numbers have led New Zealand to impose a temporary ban on the arrival of India for about two weeks, even for the first time that New Zealand citizens will not be able to return home.
“We are temporarily suspending access to New Zealand for travelers from India,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference in Auckland.
New Zealand, which virtually eliminated the virus within its borders, on Thursday recorded 23 new cases at the age of 17 from India.
Two other countries that have managed to keep the coronavirus largely under control during the first year of the pandemic are also struggling with new waves, albeit smaller than India.
South Korea reported 700 new cases on Thursday, the highest daily figure since early January, and the prime minister warned that new rules on social distancing would probably be needed.
Thailand, which is planning a cautious reopening of its tourism industry, on Thursday reported an increase in new daily infections to 405, increasing its total number of infections to 30,310 with 95 deaths.
In addition to Thai concerns, it has detected 24 cases of a highly contagious virus variant first detected in Britain.
The number of cases is also increasing in parts of Europe, but South America is the most worrying region in the world for infections, with cases increasing in almost every country, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.
SUSPENDING SHOTS
Asia’s increasing cases are due to concerns about the safety of one of the most prominent vaccines against the virus.
The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday that rare cases of blood clots were found among some adult recipients of the AstraZeneca Plc COVID-19 vaccine, although the benefits of the vaccine still outweighed the risks.
Both South Korea and the Philippines have suspended the use of the vaccine for people under 60 due to possible ties with blood clots, while Australia and Taiwan have said they will continue to use it.
Concerns about the vaccine could delay vaccination in Asia, some of which is already caused by providing problems. Campaigns in most parts of Asia lag behind in places like Britain and the United States.
Australia’s program to vaccinate its nearly 26 million people is more than 80% behind the original schedule.
The authorities promised to administer at least 4 million first doses by the end of March, but could only deliver 670,000. The government blames the issues from Europe.
As cases in India increase, stocks of vaccines are running high in several parts of the country, including the most severely affected Maharashtra country.
China, where the new coronavirus originated at the end of 2019, is continuing its vaccination campaign and administered approximately 3.68 million doses on Wednesday. The total doses are 149.07 million, according to authorities.
Japan’s vaccinations are far behind those in most major economies, with only one vaccine approved and about 1 million people receiving a first dose since February, even though it is struggling with new cases.
The infections in Tokyo increased by 545 cases on Thursday, contributing to concerns about the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, which were delayed from last year and would now start at the end of July.
The government has scrambled to calm social media outrage, saying it does not want to prioritize the vaccines for their Olympic athletes, and a media report denies that it is considering it.
Japan does not insist that oncoming athletes be vaccinated, but tests will be done regularly while they are in Japan. There will be no foreign spectators and another decision has to be made about domestic.
Reporting by Reuters staff; Written by Robert Birsel; Edited by Simon Cameron-Moore