Delta variant: Indonesia has become the epicenter of the pandemic in Asia | With over 44,000 infections per day

Indonesia has become the epicenter of the pandemic in Asia in number of daily infections, in the midst of a new wave of covid-19 that is devastating almost all of Southeast Asia, with the incidence of the new Delta variant.

The health system of the Indonesian archipelago, which recorded yesterday 44,721 new infections and 1,093 deaths due to the new coronavirus, he is on edge due to the avalanche of patients and also suffers from a severe lack of oxygen, a problem which is also affecting Burma (Myanmar).

In recent days, Indonesia exceeded in number of daily infections in India, the main focus of the pandemic on the continent so far and which yesterday recorded 38,325 cases, as well as in Brazil (34,126 infections), while the UK has reported 48,161 new cases.

It is feared that the actual number of infections may be higher in Indonesia due to the low number of tests, That’s 55.89 per thousand people, compared to 318 in India or 3,311 in the UK.

Dr Dicky Budiman of Griffith University in Australia has accused authorities of applying insufficient measures to curb outbreaks caused by the delta variant, first identified in India and more contagious. “Medical services on the brink of collapse with increased mortality and many infections that go undetected. The oxygen supply is minimal because the demand has quintupled, ”said Budiman.

The expert called for an increase in the vaccination rate and the strategy of the three T’s: test (tests), “track” (localization) and “trace” (follow-up).

Deaths among physicians

Healthcare workers in Indonesia are particularly hard hit by the pandemic amid doubts about the limited effectiveness of China’s Sinovac vaccine.

At least 218 health workers have died so far in July alone, the highest number in the entire pandemic, which has caused 1,439 healthcare deaths since last year, according to data from the Indonesian Medical Association.

Thailand and Indonesia, whose vaccination campaigns relied heavily on Sinovac, have approved a third booster dose in the health sector with other drugs such as AstraZeneca or Moderna.

Although the Sinovac vaccine is effective in preventing severe symptoms, the antibodies it produces in the body are halved every 40 days, according to a study released last week by the National Center for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering of Thailand. (Biotec) in Thailand.

The vaccination rate is slow in Indonesia, with sOnly 6 percent of the population received the full diet, as well as in other countries in the region, such as Malaysia (14%), Thailand (4.9%), Burma (2.9%) or Vietnam (0.3%).

Pandemic and repression in Burma

In Burma, social media has filled with help from covid patients who do not have access to oxygen or cannot be treated in hospitals under the repressive military junta that seized power after the coup. Status as of February 1.

The health system is weakened because thousands of doctors and health workers have joined the civil disobedience movement, although they continued to treat patients at home or in private clinics.

Health workers denounce that the military junta, which has killed hundreds and detained thousands more, is hoard oxygen cylinders and use covid-19 as a weapon against dissent.

The military junta, led by Gen. Aung Min Hlaing, first denied the lack of oxygen, then admitted it, but argued that it was the citizens’ fault for accumulating bottles, while the Myanmar’s ruling party Global New Light is replete with propaganda news about the efforts. to increase supply.

Thailand and Vietnam on alert

The pandemic is also wreaking havoc Thailand, which on Monday reported a record new infections, 11,781 and 81 deaths, At the same time, authorities have ordered the suspension of domestic flights to areas worst affected by the pandemic, including Bangkok, from Wednesday.

At Vietnam authorities on Sunday recorded a total of 5,887 Covid-19 infections, a figure that quadruple in a single day the 1,465 cases detected throughout 2020.

At Ho Chi Minh, residents undergo their hardest confinement Since July 9 and can only leave home for essential activities, when most businesses remain closed and thousands of workers in industrial areas sleep in factories to maintain production.