Lockdowns in Asia as some nations see 1st major virus surges
Source: AP
By DAVID RISING
BANGKOK (AP) — Several countries around Asia and the Pacific that are experiencing their first major surges of the coronavirus rushed to implement tough restrictions Friday, a year and a half into a pandemic that many initially weathered well.
Faced with rapidly rising numbers of infections in recent months, authorities hope the measures can slow the spread before health care systems are overwhelmed.
It’s a rhythm familiar in much of the world, where repeated surges deluged hospitals and led to high numbers of deaths. But many Asian countries avoided that cycle by imposing stiff travel restrictions combined with tough measures at home.
Now some are seeing record numbers of new cases and even deaths, blamed in part on the highly contagious delta variant combined with low rates of vaccination and decisions to ease restrictions that have hit economies hard. Though overall numbers are nowhere yet near those seen during outbreaks in hotspots in Europe and the United States, the rapid rise set off alarm bells just as many Western countries with high vaccine rates began to breathe a sigh of relief.
Locals wait in line overnight for free coronavirus testing at Wat Phra Si Mahathat temple in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, July 9, 2021. Faced with rapidly rising numbers of new coronavirus infections and growing concern over the proliferation of the highly contagious delta variant, major Asia-Pacific cities implemented new restrictions Friday in the hope of reversing the trend before health care systems are overwhelmed. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-lifestyle-health-travel-government-and-politics-182939c819565cd7351554f36784b86f
= new reply since forum marked as read
while shithole countries wasted their time on prevention last year to keep their people alive. Trump knew they were losers. Winners let their people die for their country. Only the strong survive. 
Many of these countries are quick to mask since they have experience with pandemics and have production capacity to make PPE. Unless they have a RW leader like India.
