Is India's COVID-19 crisis spilling into Asian neighbors?
Liu Xin and Wan Lin Published: May 06, 2021 09:48 PM
Patients receive treatment inside a COVID-19 ward in a hospital, in Bangalore, India, April 30, 2021. India's COVID-19 tally reached 19,164,969 on Saturday, with a single day spike of 401,993 cases, the health ministry said. This is the first time when over 400,000 new cases were recorded in India in 24 hours, and a record number of 3,523 deaths since Friday morning took the total death toll to 211,853. (Str/Xinhua)
The "double mutant" variant that is wrecking havoc in India is feared to be spilling into neighboring countries and is starting to affect Southeast Asia. Experts warned that without strict border controls and anti-virus measures, countries in South and Southeast Asia would fall into a grave situation, given their weak medical systems and lack of vaccines, and they suggested anti-virus cooperation with China may be helpful.