Asia at a crossroads in fight against coronavirus as cases surge

[snoop1130]

Asia at a crossroads in fight against coronavirus as cases surge

By Stephen Coates

 

FILE PHOTO: People wearing protective masks, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, make their way at Shinagawa station in Tokyo, Japan November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Countries across the Asia-Pacific region reported record new coronavirus numbers and fresh outbreaks on Monday, with Japan facing mounting pressure to reimpose a state of emergency and South Korea warning it was at a "critical crossroads".

 

The resurgence of the virus in Asia comes as travel restrictions are gradually being eased in the region and it will dampen prospects for broader reopening that would boost the recovery underway in economies such as Japan.

 

New daily cases in Japan reached a record 1,722 on Saturday, with hot spots in the northern island of Hokkaido and the western prefectures of Hyogo and Osaka. In Tokyo, cases have neared 400 in recent days, levels not seen since early August.

 

Analysts expect rising infections to slow the recovery in the world's third-biggest economy, which grew at the fastest pace on record in the third quarter.

 

But the new cases failed to dampen stock markets, which have been bolstered by news of a potentially successful vaccine from Pfizer Inc.

 

Japan's Nikkei rose 2% to a 29-year high. South Korea's Kospi hit its highest since early 2018 and Australia's ASX 200 hit an eight-month top, before jamming there when a glitch halted trade.

 

"Since we've got this vaccine news, as well as diminished risk around the U.S. elections ... everyone's thinking now that it's the cue to get in," said Kyle Rodda, analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne.

 

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, desperate to maintain Japan's economic momentum, has said the new infections did not warrant the reimposition of a state of emergency, or a halt to the government's campaign to encourage domestic tourism.

 

Japan first adopted a state of emergency in April and lifted it the following month. Since then, Tokyo has eased restrictions to boost the economy and prepare for next year's postponed Olympic Games.

 

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach met Suga on Monday and said he was "very, very confident" that spectators would be able to safely watch the Games in stadiums.

 

In South Korea, officials reported more than 200 new coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day on Monday, as the government considers tightening social distancing.

 

"We are at a critical crossroads where we might have to readjust distancing," South Korean Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said.

 

"The current situation is taking a very dangerous turn considering the rising infections from daily lives and the unrelenting pace of the spread."

 

REMINDER

 

In Australia, 14 new cases were reported in South Australia on Monday after a months-long streak of no infections in the state ended on the weekend. One official said the cluster was likely connected to a hotel for quarantined travellers.

 

Several other states imposed new border restrictions as the outbreak threatened Australia's strong record of controlling the disease, with several days of no new infections reported nationally this month.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the new cases were "a reminder, even after a lockdown, even after all this time, the virus hasn't gone anywhere".

 

India said on Sunday it would fly doctors from other regions into the capital, New Delhi, and double testing rates to contain record case numbers in the city of 20 million people.

 

While India's daily increase in cases has been under the 50,000 mark for eight straight days, about half the peak, Delhi has recorded more than 7,000 daily infections in recent days - a record level.

 

New Zealand has made masks mandatory from Thursday on public transport in Auckland as well as on all domestic flights, after a new infection was reported in the community.

 

Last week's positive test was linked to a known case from a border isolation facility, suggesting less risk of a wider unseen spread.

 

Indonesia, which has the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia, has reported new spikes after signs infection rates were plateauing in recent weeks. It announced a record daily jump of 5,444 infections on Friday.

 

Mainland China, where the pandemic began late last year, reported eight new infections on Sunday, down from 13 a day earlier. China's last significant outbreak died down this month.

 

Beijing is ramping up testing of frozen food after repeatedly detecting the virus on imported products, even though the World Health Organization says the risk of catching COVID-19 from frozen food is low.

 

Taiwan, which has kept the pandemic well under control, is expected to announce tougher measures this week after a rise in positive cases imported from abroad.

 

Taiwan reported eight new cases on Friday, all imported, the highest in a single day since April 19.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-16

 

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[dabhand]

Moderna have just announced positive news on the vaccine front. The storage conditions also seem to be better than that of the earlier announced vaccine plus a higher  rated effective % at close to 95%..

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/16/moderna-covid-vaccine-candidate-almost-95-effective-trials-show

[ukrules]

10 hours ago, dabhand said:

Moderna have just announced positive news on the vaccine front. The storage conditions also seem to be better than that of the earlier announced vaccine plus a higher  rated effective % at close to 95%..

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/16/moderna-covid-vaccine-candidate-almost-95-effective-trials-show

There's going to be more like this coming over the next few weeks.

 

The very cold distribution is not required for most of them based on what I've read.

[Scott]

Troll post and reply removed.  Any attempt to minimize the seriousness of the virus will earn a suspension.  

 

You have been warned.

[phantomfiddler]

Statistics as supplied by Thailand's main newspaper put the virus deaths at 60 people, in a country having a population of around 70 million. This mathematically equates to a death toll of 0.00008% ! Compare this with the Black Plague, which caused a death toll of 50% of the population, and you have a differentiation factor of 625,000 to 1 in degree of present risk of death, if the figures are to be taken as close to reality. This is not "minimalizing" the situation, it is a straight mathematical truth.

[placeholder]

1 minute ago, phantomfiddler said:

Statistics as supplied by Thailand's main newspaper put the virus deaths at 60 people, in a country having a population of around 70 million. This mathematically equates to a death toll of 0.00008% ! Compare this with the Black Plague, which caused a death toll of 50% of the population, and you have a differentiation factor of 625,000 to 1 in degree of present risk of death, if the figures are to be taken as close to reality. This is not "minimalizing" the situation, it is a straight mathematical truth.

And what has distinguished the general behavior of the Thais from say the behavior of citizens in the USA? What practice has been almost universally adopted from the start in Thailand that has not been adopted elsewhere?

[Bluetongue]

No surprise Japan and SK up given the onset of colder weather. Though wasn't the expert advice early on that they didn't know about transmission risks during different weather. Anyway seems pretty clear now. I object to the South Australian Chief Medical Officer describing the state as being in it's second wave yesterday. They had one person spread it to 16 others in a large family, that is a cluster, not even an outbreak, the language is typical of the scare mongering in Australia. Hopefully they will quickly get on top of it and show some of the quaking behind the couch folk that the strategy of aggressive suppression can work. Australia never even had a first wave, at worst a ripple followed by a wavelet in Victoria. 

[Bluetongue]

2 hours ago, placeholder said:

And what has distinguished the general behavior of the Thais from say the behavior of citizens in the USA? What practice has been almost universally adopted from the start in Thailand that has not been adopted elsewhere?

No argument there, the universal silent adoption of masks here and the whole attitude is different. And I suspect like many Asian societies they have great fear and respect for anything emanating from China.

[Eric Loh]

11 minutes ago, Bluetongue said:

No argument there, the universal silent adoption of masks here and the whole attitude is different. And I suspect like many Asian societies they have great fear and respect for anything emanating from China.

A lot was learned from SARs that ravaged Asia in 2003. Protocols on how to handle SARs were dusted off and implemented quickly and equipment like thermal imaging were deployed while hospitals preparedness were set to motion. Masking was a natural thing even post SARs. 

[placeholder]

25 minutes ago, Bluetongue said:

And I suspect like many Asian societies they have great fear and respect for anything emanating from China.

Please.  Enough silliness. Flu generally comes from China too. I've never noticed Thais altering their way of life during flu season.

[Bluetongue]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Please.  Enough silliness. Flu generally comes from China too. I've never noticed Thais altering their way of life during flu season.

I didn't know flu comes from China. Though I must admit I was making a glib remark, translated much more seriously by Eric Loh, above. Thai's would alter their way of life if that loudspeaker demanded it.