Cases rising alarmingly in South Asia, except for Bangladesh

As India and Nepal have witnessed large spikes in Covid-19 cases since April, infections are also increasing in other South Asian countries, except for Bangladesh.

India, the world's second-most populous country, reported 4,14,188 fresh infections and 3,915 deaths on Friday, according to Hindustan Times.

With these, India's total infections went up to 2,14,91,598 and the death toll rose to 2,34,083. But medical experts say the real extent of Covid-19 is five to 10 times higher than the official figures.

On the other hand, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Wednesday Nepal was being overwhelmed by a Covid-19 surge as India's outbreak had spread across South Asia.

It said Nepal was recording 57 times as many cases as a month ago, with 44% of tests coming back positive, reports Reuters.

Nepalese towns near the Indian border could not cope with the growing number of people needing treatment, while only 1% of the country's population was fully vaccinated.

The Himalayan nation reported 8,970 cases and 54 deaths on Thursday, taking the total tally of infections to 368,580, its health ministry said.

"What is happening in India right now is a horrifying preview of Nepal's future if we cannot contain this latest surge that is claiming more lives by the minute," said Netra Prasad Timsina, chair of the Nepal Red Cross.

In the wake of the surge in infections and deaths, several Indian states, including Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, imposed complete lockdowns while others tightened restrictions to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that an explosive Covid-19 wave was threatening his country and the world as well.

In a letter, he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a countrywide vaccination campaign and scientifically track the virus and its mutations, reports Reuters.

The Maldives imposes night curfew

Cases have increased in the Maldives. On 6 May, the island nation registered 703 cases, up from 218 on 24 April.

The country on Wednesday imposed a night curfew due to the spike in cases caused by public assembly amid the ongoing local elections. Infections also surged due to indoor gatherings in Ramadan and the onslaught of tourists from abroad, Republic TV reports.

"The numbers are very high. If we are not able to significantly lower these numbers, we are going to face very difficult days. So we have to get ready," said Mabrook Azeez, the spokesman for the President's Office in the Maldives.

Sri Lanka bans arrivals from India

Sri Lanka is also seeing a rise in cases. Nearly 2,000 new cases have been reported during each of the first five days of this month, up from an average of 200 per day until mid-April.

Described as the New Year cluster coming from the traditional New Year festivities in mid-April, the current wave was from the fast spreading UK variant, the country's health authorities said.

On Thursday, the island nation announced that all arrivals from India would be banned with immediate effect due to the record rise in cases in India.

Moreover, the Sri Lankan navy last week said they had increased surveillance of north and northeastern seas to check the possibility of infected Indian fishermen crossing the international waters and making contacts with locals.

Oxygen shortage overwhelms Pakistan's hospitals

In Pakistan, the second wave hit early this year and there had been a consistent increase in cases since February till 3 May.

The country's hospitals and broken health care system are overwhelmed amid an acute crunch in the supply of the lifeline gas – liquid medical oxygen – and fatigued frontline health workers, who have been battling the contagion since last year, reports Khaleej Times.

Ground realities suggest Pakistan is back to square one on the back of an explosion of daily cases and the shocking discovery of a mutating British viral strain that has further deepened an unprecedented healthcare crisis in the history of the nation.

Bangladesh death toll lowest in 40 days

Bangladesh reported 37 deaths in the last 24 hours till 8am Friday, the lowest in 40 days.

On 28 March, 35 people were killed by the virus in a single day, and the number of daily fatalities continued to rise.

Moreover, cases rose by 1,682 in the last 24 hours, taking the total case count to 770,842.

The positivity rate rose to 9.89% on Friday, which was 8.44% a day ago.