Asia has seen a spike in Covid-19 cases. These diagrams show what is really going on

Asia’s highest peak ever

Many of the places reporting the most cases per capita in the Asia-Pacific region, which stretches across East and South Asia and Oceania, were previously considered success stories.

These include South Korea, New Zealand, Vietnam, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Of these, two countries that have both eased restrictions are driving Asian case counts — South Korea and Vietnam.

“(The Korean government) eased the current measures and social distancing despite the increasing number of Covid cases,” he said.

Abhishek Rimal, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) regional emergency health coordinator, said the Lunar New Year celebrated in both countries earlier in the year may also have contributed to the outbreaks.

Another factor is that both Vietnam and South Korea have large testing capacities, which could also explain why they find more cases than other countries.

“They test, therefore they get it,” he said.

The countries that are now seeing large numbers of cases all closed their borders at the start of the pandemic, largely cut off from the world. As Covid broke through, they used tracing, tracing and social distancing measures to bring outbreaks under control.

In recent months, most have begun to turn to a new approach: living with the virus.

After years of banning most foreigners, all places – except Hong Kong – have eased border restrictions and eased rules on citizens.

The reasons for this vary from place to place.

“We’ve been in the pandemic for more than two years … and people are really trying to get back to their normal lives,” Rimal said.

But people in Hong Kong and China are still waiting to get on with their lives. In both places governments have adhered to strict border rules – and people are still living with social distancing measures and the risk of sudden Covid lockdowns.

Vaccines are key

Even with case numbers rising, some authorities in Asia Pacific don’t seem fazed for one simple reason: vaccines.

Alongside the tiny Pacific island nations of Tonga and the Cook Islands, New Zealand and South Korea are reporting the highest cases per capita in the region – but their death tolls remain relatively low.

The South Korean authorities have been spreading the same message.

“The number of confirmed cases continues to increase significantly, but the severity and mortality rate and the responsiveness of the medical system are considered manageable,” health official Son Young-rae said in a March 23 briefing. “(We) believe that once the peak of this Omicron wave is past, we will be able to transition to a system that is closer to normal life.”

Both South Korea and New Zealand have high vaccination rates – but crucially they have vaccinated their elderly, who are most vulnerable to serious illness and death from the virus.

And so far that means that while these countries have seen deaths spike as cases rise, they have still been able to keep death rates relatively low.

It’s similar in New Zealand – while the country had one of the highest reported Covid cases per capita over the past week, it doesn’t even make the top 20 globally for the past week when it comes to deaths per capita.

Again, Hong Kong is the outlier of the region.

The virus was able to spread in retirement homes, where vaccination rates were low.

The question of whether tough measures are worth it is also playing out in mainland China, which is facing the largest outbreak since the outbreak in Wuhan at the beginning of the pandemic.

And like Hong Kong, immunizations among the elderly are lagging behind, raising concerns that the city’s deadly outbreak could herald a deadly surge across the border.