EAST JAKARTA, INDONESIA - infections, plus 852 new fatalities, its second-highest daily death toll, official data showed. Indonesia has recorded 63,760 coronavirus deaths so far and more than 2400000 million cases in total. (Photo by Agung Fatma Putra/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
डेल्टा संस्करण दुनिया को तबाह कर रहा है, लेकिन यह दक्षिण पूर्व एशिया को ब्रेकिंग पॉइंट पर
धकेल रहा है।
By Helen Regan, CNN Updated 0734 GMT (1534 HKT) August 5, 2021 हांगकांग (सीएनएन) एशिया भर के देश कम वैक्सीन दरों और अत्यधिक संक्रामक डेल्टा संस्करण से प्रेरित महामारी के अपने सबसे खराब कोरोनावायरस प्रकोप से जूझ रहे हैं।
जबकि चीन, जापान और दक्षिण कोरिया जैसे देशों में बढ़ते प्रकोपों को देखते हैं, डेल्टा लहर की तेज धार दक्षिण पूर्व एशिया में गहराई से महसूस की जाती है, जहां देशों में मामलों की संख्या और मौतों में तेजी से वृद्धि देखी जा रही है।
दक्षिण पूर्व एशियाई देश जो पिछले साल प्रकोप को रोकने में कामयाब रहे, अब भारी स्वास्थ्य सेवाओं, अस्पताल के बिस्तरों, उपकरणों और ऑक्सीजन की कमी से जूझ रहे हैं। उन्होंने लॉकडाउन को फिर से लागू कर दिया है, महत्वपूर्ण विनिर्माण केंद्रों में कारखानों को बंद कर दिया है, और पहले से ही आर्थिक रूप से पीड़ित नागरिकों की आवाजाही को प्रतिबंधित कर दिया है।
अपनी स्वतंत्रता और काम करने की क्षमता पर और अधिक प्रतिबंधों को सहने के लिए मजबूर नागरिकों के बीच निराशा उबलते बिंदु पर पहुंच रही है – और मलेशिया और थाईलैंड में उनकी सरकारों के प्रकोप से निपटने के खिलाफ विरोध प्रदर्शन शुरू हो गए हैं। इस बीच, फरवरी सैन्य तख्तापलट के रूप में म्यांमार पतन के कगार पर है और आगामी खूनी कार्रवाई ने स्वास्थ्य प्रणाली को चकनाचूर कर दिया है, और टीकाकरण पूरी तरह से ठप हो गया है।
सुरक्षात्मक गियर में श्रमिकों ने 14 जुलाई, 2021 को इंडोनेशिया के पश्चिम जावा के बोगोर में सिपेनजो कब्रिस्तान में दफनाने के लिए एक कोविड -19 पीड़ित के ताबूत को कब्र में उतारा।
जबकि यूनाइटेड किंगडम और सिंगापुर जैसे धनी देशों में नए सिरे से प्रकोप देखा जा रहा है, उन्होंने अपनी आधी से अधिक आबादी को पूरी तरह से टीका लगाया है। तुलनात्मक रूप से, वियतनाम ने अपनी आबादी के 1% से भी कम, थाईलैंड ने लगभग 5%, फिलीपींस ने 7.2%, और वायरस का केंद्र इंडोनेशिया 7.6%, पूरी तरह से टीकाकरण किया है, जैसा कि डेटा में हमारी दुनिया के अनुसार है।
महामारी में डेढ़ साल से अधिक, अधिक संक्रामक डेल्टा संस्करण कम वैक्सीन दरों वाले राष्ट्रों की कमजोरियों को उजागर कर रहा है, भले ही उनके पास पहले वायरस का नियंत्रण था।
वियतनाम
शायद दक्षिण पूर्व एशिया में कहीं भी वियतनाम की तुलना में फ्लिप अधिक स्पष्ट नहीं है।
पिछले साल, हवाई अड्डों पर यात्रियों की शुरुआती जांच की आक्रामक रणनीति और सख्त संगरोध और निगरानी कार्यक्रम के कारण वायरस को रोकने में देश को एक प्रमुख उदाहरण के रूप में रखा गया था। विश्व बैंक के अनुसार, पिछले डेढ़ साल से, निवासी अपेक्षाकृत सामान्य जीवन जीने में सक्षम हैं और 2020 में अर्थव्यवस्था में वास्तव में 2.9% की वृद्धि हुई है।
26 जुलाई को हनोई की सड़कों पर कीटाणुनाशक का छिड़काव करने से पहले वियतनाम के राष्ट्रीय रक्षा मंत्रालय के तहत रसायन के उच्च कमान के सैनिक।
लेकिन अप्रैल के अंत से, वियतनाम ने कोविड -19 संक्रमणों में तेज वृद्धि दर्ज की है। स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय ने कहा कि बुधवार को वियतनाम ने 7,623 नए मामले दर्ज किए, जो रविवार को हो ची मिन्ह सिटी में सबसे नए संक्रमणों के साथ 8,620 थे। जॉन्स हॉपकिन्स यूनिवर्सिटी के आंकड़ों के अनुसार, कुल मिलाकर, वियतनाम ने 177,813 मामलों की पुष्टि की है, जिनमें से 85% से अधिक अकेले पिछले महीने में रिपोर्ट किए गए थे। वियतनाम में हुई 2,327 मौतों में से लगभग आधी पिछले महीने दर्ज की गईं।
सरकार ने आगे प्रसार को रोकने के लिए राजधानी हनोई और हो ची मिन्ह सिटी में सख्त तालाबंदी की है और अधिक रोगियों को समायोजित करने के लिए कोविड उपचार केंद्र स्थापित किए गए हैं।
लेकिन प्रकोप ने सरकार पर अपनी वैक्सीन की आपूर्ति बढ़ाने और टीकाकरण में तेजी लाने का दबाव डाला है। JHU के अनुसार, अब तक वियतनाम की 96 मिलियन आबादी में से केवल 0.6% को ही पूरी तरह से टीका लगाया गया है।
Daily reported Covid-19 cases
Indonesia
The world’s fourth most populous nation, Indonesia, recently overtook India as Asia’s Covid epicenter, and the outbreak has been devastating, with a high of more than 50,000 cases a day.
Of its 354 million reported cases since the pandemic began, 1.2 million were recorded in the past month, according to JHU. On Wednesday, Indonesia surpassed 100,000 coronavirus deaths, becoming only the second country in Asia. On Wednesday, 1,747 fatalities were reported by the Health Ministry and 35,867 cases.
If the spread continues unabated, experts say it could push Indonesia’s health care system to the brink of disaster. Some fear the situation may be worse than the numbers because not enough people are getting tested for the virus. One local survey found that nearly half of the 10.6 million residents of the capital, Jakarta, may have contracted Covid-19.
Graves for Covid-19 victims at the Rorotan Cemetery in Jakarta.
The country is suffering a health crisis, with hospitals stretched to their limits, full cemeteriesexpanded to hold the Covid deadand exhausted health care workers.
Experts say Indonesia is now reaping the costs of not implementing strict lockdowns nor investing enough inefficient contact-tracing systems.
Daily reported Covid-19 cases.
On Monday, the government announced an extension of the highest Level 4 restrictions in several cities and areas, including Java and Bali’s capital and islands, for another week. Meanwhile, the country’s health minister said the devastating wave had peaked in some areas, and authorities were aiming to gradually reopen its economy in September, according to Reuters.
Malaysia
Despite a national lockdown, Malaysia has also seen an exponential rise in cases and deaths, with the outbreak forcing a month-long suspension of Parliament.
Anger among the people is mounting. Hundreds broke coronavirus restrictions to protesting in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, over the weekend against the government’s handling of the outbreak and called on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to resign. Following the suspension of a special sitting of the legislature on Monday due to Covid, opposition lawmakers marched toward the Parliament building, demanding Muhyiddin’s resignation.
Malaysia’s current political crisis exacerbates frustration over the mounting deaths, vaccine rates, and economic pain. Muhyiddin’s government appears on the verge of collapse after taking control of the ruling coalition following elections last year.
Protesters hold fake corpses during a demonstration near Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur, demanding the prime minister’s resignation over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Last week, thousands of overworked Malaysian doctors went on strike over conditions in hospitals, saying they have been pushed to the brink as beds and ventilators run low.
The protest came as total Covid cases in Malaysia surpassed 1 million, reporting its highest number of daily injections. On Wednesday, Malaysia reported a new record number of cases, with 19,819 new infections, according to the Health Ministry, up from about 7,000 a month ago. Covid deaths are also at record levels, with 257 reported on Wednesday.
Daily reported Covid-19 cases.
The outbreak has spread from Covid clusters in the country’s manufacturing and transport industries. And while the outbreak forced the country back under a nationwide lockdown on May 12, large parts of the manufacturing sector were deemed essential, and employees kept working despite the rising danger, Reuters reported.
Malaysia’s vaccine rates have improved in the past month, especially compared to its regional neighbors. According to Our World in Data, about 22.5% of people in Malaysia are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Thailand
Although it was the first country to report a Covid-19 case outside of China in January last year, Thailand kept its infection numbers low in 2020 thanks to successful containment measures.
This year, however, it is facing a much bigger challenge. After containing a second wave that started last December, Thailand is struggling to curb the third wave of infections that has pushed daily caseloads and death tolls to unprecedented levels. On Wednesday, Thailand reported a record high in daily confirmed cases, with 20,920 infections — the second day of reporting over 20,000 cases, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Thailand also recorded 160 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 5,663.
Hospitals in Bangkok have become overwhelmed by the surge in cases, and demand for beds has greatly outstripped capacity. Authorities are racing to lessen the burden on the health care system. Bangkok is dispatching more than 400 doctors and nurses from provincial areas to the city’s slums and densely populated areas to test and isolate 250,000 residents, said Dr. Supat Hasuwannakit, the Rural Doctor Society president.
Some 1,800 cardboard beds are prepared at a Covid-19 coronavirus field hospital inside a warehouse at the Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok on July 27.
“We may be unable to reduce the rate of infection just yet, but we hope to ease the bed situation in Bangkok and slow down the death rate,” Supat said.
On Tuesday, Thailand extended its national lockdown until the end of the month to slow the rising cases. Now, 29 provinces have been placed under the strictest protocol, meaning 40% of the country’s population will be under lockdown, according to CNN’s calculation of data from the CCSA.
A cargo warehouse at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport has been turned into a 1,800-bed field hospital for Covid-19 patients with less severe symptoms, and 15 passenger trains are being converted into a community isolation facility for Covid-19 patients waiting for hospital beds.
Prolonged economic pain and fears of rising Covid fatalities are taking a toll on Thai citizens. There was public outcry after several bodies were found on the streets of Bangkok and left lying on the road for hours before an ambulance retrieved them.
Daily reported Covid-19 cases.
And thousands of people joined anti-government protests across the country on Sunday, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, whose government has been heavily criticized for its handling of the pandemic.
Thailand is aiming to vaccinate 50 million people by the end of the year. But according to data published by the CCSA, 23% of the country’s 70 million people have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 5% are fully vaccinated.
Myanmar
On Thailand’s border, Myanmar is collapsing under the double crisis of pandemics and military coups. There is a desperate oxygen shortage in the country, with families of the seriously ill queuing for oxygen or frantically searching online for Covid treatments.
Residents are choosing to self-treat at home, doctors say. If they do go to the hospital, they have often turned away as the facilities are running out of oxygen, treatments, and beds, and there’s not enough staff to care for patients, they said. The United Nations estimates only 40% of the country’s health care facilities can still function.
According to the World Health Organization, reported daily cases in Myanmar have risen from about 100 in early June to about 5,000 a day, with the total confirmed infections at 315,118. Myanmar has also reported 10,373 deaths.
A man uses his mobile phone in front of empty oxygen canisters outside a factory in Mandalay on July 13.
But doctors and volunteer groups say those numbers are under-reported. Vaccines have stalled under junta rule, and minimal testing, a lack of official data, and widespread public distrust of the military mean no one has a clear idea of the extent of the crisis.
Last week, Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward warned that half of Myanmar’s 54 million people could be infected with Covid-19 in the next two weeks.
Adding to the trauma, those in the country say the military, which seized power in February, wielded the Covid crisis against the people. As infections and deaths climb, the junta is escalating its attacks on doctors and health care workers, many of whom went on strike to protest the coup and have been forced into hiding to evade arrest.
Daily reported Covid-19 cases.
The UN has documented at least 260 attacks against medical personnel and facilities. At least 67 health care workers are being held in detention, with more than 600 outstanding arrest warrants for doctors and nurses. There are now international calls for the UN to push for an emergency “Covid ceasefire,” demanding the junta stop targeting health workers.
According to state media, the military-controlled Ministry of Health aims to get 50% of its population vaccinated this year and planned to start Covid-19 vaccines in early August in the biggest city Yangon. But even if those doses are procured, residents say there is deep distrust in the regime to give them a lifesaving shot when it continues to kill and detain its citizens.
Diabetesasia is the advocate for the people currently living with #diabetes & NCDs Risk, and the Global Diabetes Walk campaign reminds us to #Prevent #diabetes #NCD
We Work closely with the national health mission and Ministry of health and family welfare http://upnrhm.gov.in/
Our main area of Work is Training of HCPs and Education in Gestational diabetes and area of NCDs
