Concerns are growing about a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases in South Asia.
On Sunday over 100 000 cases were recorded in India, the highest yet, and this would seem to indicate that the country is now firmly in its second wave.
Neighbours are also showing a rapid rise in cases, with Pakistan and Bangladesh also showing signs of being in a second wave of Covid-19. South Asia is likely the new global epicentre for the disease, taking Europe’s place.
A further worry is that none of the three countries are testing at the necessary rate, implying that the pandemic could be even more widespread than official numbers indicate.
There has also been a rapid rise in deaths in India, with the number of daily deaths increasing sevenfold in the past month.
India has been vaccinating rapidly and is currently vaccinating 3-million people per day. However, given that its population is nearly 1.4 billion this is not enough to reduce the spread of the disease significantly.