COVID ‘winners’ enter their worst phase as new variants emerge

New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea are among the Asia Pacific places that have were lauded for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many of them ranked among the best in the world in 2020. But in the second year of the pandemic, they are being challenged by stronger variants of coronavirus that have penetrated the defences, creating the worst outbreaks in some countries.

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The early success: These states managed to fight COVID-19 successfully early on with low death rates and the number of cases. These eight places closed their borders early in the pandemic, which proved to be effective. And with most of these places being islands, border control was relatively easy. The strict measures meant that travellers were either blocked from entering or had to go through long hotel quarantines.

2021 outbreaks: In spite of the early success, the emergence of stronger coronavirus variants and lenient travel rules, later on, triggered a minor outbreak in many of those places. Slight easing of quarantine rules for pilots sparked a rapid surge in Taiwan, while community gatherings in Vietnam worsened the outbreak in the state, leading to its worst phase in the pandemic.

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Japan and South Korea have also hit new heights of COVID-19 tallies, while many in Japan are concerned about hosting the upcoming Olympics. However, the rate of infection since reaching those heights have halved. 

Minor outbreaks were reported in Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore, prompting immediate actions such as partial lockdowns and strict travel restrictions. Most of these places recorded their worst daily case count in June.