Roshan Abraham, Rittik Biswas

(Reuters) – Coronavirus infection in Asia has surpassed 100 million, according to a Reuters tally. The region is seeing a resurgence of cases, dominated primarily by the BA.2 Omicron variant.

According to Reuters, the region reports over 1,000,000 new COVID-19 case every day. Asia accounts for 21% of COVID-19 reported cases, more than half the global population.

Omicron’s highly contagious, but not deadly BA.2 variant has seen figures rise in the last few weeks. This includes countries like South Korea and China. The World Health Organization estimates that BA.2 represents almost 86% of all sequenced case.

South Korea has the highest daily average number reported cases. It is responsible for 1 in 4 infections worldwide, according to Reuters analysis.

Although there has been a decrease in the incidence of these cases since March, it is still reporting more than 300 deaths per day. The authorities have ordered all crematoriums across the nation to continue operating for longer periods.

China is trying to control its worst epidemic since the start of the pandemic. Shanghai’s rise in COVID cases, fueled by the BA.2 Substrain, has forced the financial centre to lock down. To contain spread of the disease, the city placed 26 million people in lockdown.

China reported more than 45,000 cases in the first quarter of 2019, a higher number than reported during 2021. China is home to 90% of the population. However, it has not given enough booster doses to elderly patients, which makes them more susceptible for reinfection.

China has not abandoned its plans to end the epidemic, but experts from around the world remain skeptical about whether lockdowns are effective in containing the Omicron virus.

“It is clear from Australia and elsewhere in the world that lockdowns are simply not effective against Omicron – so expect a big wave coming,” said Adrian Esterman, an expert in biostatistics at the University of South Australia.

India has 43 million cases of COVID, more than any other country in Asia, including South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.

India reported less than 2000 cases per day in the last 11 days, compared to its January peak of more 300,000.

Asia has now reached one million COVID related deaths. The continent has now seen 1,027 586 million deaths due to COVID.

The effectiveness of vaccines against Omicron is lower than that of its predecessors. Omicron has been shown to reinfect individuals previously treated with other coronavirus types.