Covid-19 cases surge in South Asia as countries gradually exit lockdown to reopen economies

South Asia has recently become a new hotspot of the Covid-19 pandemic with a sharp surge in confirmed cases after a number of countries started to ease restrictions this month for reopening the economy.

In Bangladesh, amid a rapid increase of infections, the government was forced to reimpose a zone-based lockdown earlier this month, a few days after businesses were allowed to resume.

The South Asian country initially imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 26 to curb the spread of the virus, and later extended it for several times until May 30. The government then decided to relax the restrictions starting May 31, citing the lockdown's impact on the economy and people's lives, reports Xinhua.

However, as it slowly hit the economic restart button, a spurt of cases was seen with the daily caseload hovering around 3,000 and total cases almost doubling since June 1. On Tuesday, total cases in the country exceeded 94,000 after a record 3,862 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours.

Bangladesh is hardly the only South Asian country that is walking a tightrope between economic resumption and pandemic control.

India has become the fourth worst-hit country by Covid-19 after the United States, Brazil and Russia with its total cases reaching 343,091 including 9,900 deaths as of Tuesday.

India entered "Lockdown 5.0," or the fifth phase of the nationwide lockdown on June 1, with gradual relaxation of restrictions.

While the lockdown involving the world's second largest population was believed to be crucial and effective in preventing the rapid spread of the virus, it also badly hit the Indian economy.

"With the imposition of nationwide lockdown to contain Covid-19 pandemic nearly 60 per cent of our economy was locked down. The lockdown triggered job losses and fuelled a massive reverse migration," Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist of India Ratings and Research, told Xinhua.

Millions of migrant labourers returned to their homes from big cities after the lockdown was imposed on March 25, some even walking up to 2,000 kilometers in the absence of public transport. Their future remained uncertain even as the country's economy is slowly reopening with minimal job opportunities in major cities.

Meanwhile, micro, small and medium enterprises were also hard-hit by the lockdown, according to Pant.

As an emergency relief, the Indian government chalked out a plan to provide employment at doorsteps, social welfare and a direct benefit scheme to migrant workers in over 100 districts in six states where the majority of them stayed during the lockdown.

The "Lockdown 5.0," also dubbed as "Unlock 1.0" which started on June 1, would have an economic focus, said the Indian government.

Hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and religious places were the first to be allowed to reopen, except in containment zones. The resumption of schools and international air travel may follow pending further assessment of the situation.

However, since June 1, around 8,000 to over 10,000 new cases along with hundreds of new deaths have been recorded every day and some experts expressed concern over a rushing resumption of business activities.

"The three important cities in India in terms of business activity, namely New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are witnessing a sharp increase in the cases," Aakash Jindal, an Indian economist, told Xinhua.

"I do give stress to capital or money but for the economic activity to restart people should be medically fit and fine and not fearful of catching the infection or disease," said the expert.

Local authorities on Monday decided to declare a total lockdown in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, where infections are raging.

In neighbouring Pakistan, confirmed cases surged to 148,921 with 2,839 deaths as of Tuesday. Pakistani Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the current trajectory showed that cases could double by the end of June and reach 1 million to 1.2 million by the end of July.

The spike in cases came after the easing of the lockdown across the country since May.

In a recent address, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan urged people to follow anti-pandemic guidelines to slow down the spread of the disease as the option of locking down the whole country is not practicable in Pakistan.

"A lockdown does not mean it will end Covid-19. It can only slow down the spread of the virus. Sadly, the lockdown also slowed down the economy, creating hard times for our poor people. We have reopened the economy with SOPs (standard operating procedures) and precautions so our poor people can earn a livelihood," he said.

The World Bank projected Pakistan's economy to contract by 2.6 per cent in the current 2019/20 fiscal year and shrink by 0.2 per cent in the next fiscal year.

The country's finance ministry, meanwhile, estimated that some 3 million people associated with industrial and services sectors in the country are expected to lose their jobs, and the poverty level could rise to 33.5 per cent from the current 24.3 per cent in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To support the poor population during the lockdown period, the Pakistani government offered support by providing 12,000 rupees (about 73 US dollars) each in cash to those in the labor, poor and unemployed class.

As South Asian countries are striving to cope with rising Covid-19 cases, China is trying its best to offer help and support.

On June 8, Bangladesh welcomed the first foreign medical team to the country since the outbreak of the virus - a 10-member expert team from China.

The team from China's southernmost island province of Hainan shared experiences in pandemic prevention and control, and gave advices for Bangladesh on Covid-19 testing, contact tracing and quarantine.

The experts also visited local hospitals treating Covid-19 patients and offered on-site guidance on management of cases, treatment of patients and protection of frontline medical staff.

Apart from sending medical experts, starting from February, China has provided Bangladesh with over 3 million surgical and N-95 masks, over 110,000 sets of personal protective equipment, and a large number of test kits, thermometers, ventilators, and sanitisers to meet the most urgent needs of the country to contain Covid-19, according to Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming.

Meanwhile, China and Pakistan, as "iron brothers," have been standing firmly together and helping each other to fight Covid-19. Pakistan was among the first countries to show solidarity and offer aid when China was in a fierce battle against the virus. And since the outbreak occured in Pakistan, China has spared no efforts in providing all kinds of assistance to help its neighbor.

On Tuesday, Pakistan received the sixth and so far the largest batch of medical supplies donated by the Chinese government. The 68 tonnes of supplies included testing kits, protective suits, N95 masks and protective goggles.

Besides, China also sent medical teams to Pakistan to join the country's efforts to battle the virus.

The Chinese experts shared the know-hows in Covid-19 screening, testing, quarantine, diagnosis, treatment and prevention, offering advices on wearing masks, setting up isolation hospitals, enhancing testing and even giving instructions for frontline medical workers on how to properly put on protective gowns.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies and organisations such as the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation, The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Confucius Institute Islamabad, among others, have also donated anti-pandemic materials to Pakistan to help save lives and protect the people.