Southeast Asia's COVID-19 Deaths Surging, with 'Worst Yet to Come'-Save the Children
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (July 21, 2021)鈥Southeast Asia is fast becoming the region hardest-hit by COVID-19, with the rate of infections racing ahead of previously worst-affected places like聽Latin America听补苍诲 India.
黄色视频is聽鈥榙eeply concerned鈥櫬燼bout the catastrophic impact that the widespread loss of聽lives and聽livelihoods will have on the region鈥檚 children, who have already been held back by the disruption to schooling听补苍诲 essential health services including routine immunization.聽 聽 聽
The fast-spreading聽Delta variant, combined with a slow vaccine rollout across most of the region, has seen cases jump by around 37 percent over the past week to 127,000 daily cases.
Dr. Yasir Arafat聽is a medical doctor and public health professional, providing technical advice to Save the Children鈥檚 COVID-19 response in Asia. He said:聽聽
鈥淐OVID-19 is spreading like wildfire in Southeast Asia,听补苍诲 the worst is still yet to come. Southeast Asia is one of the least vaccinated regions in the world.聽It also has an extremely low testing rate, so it鈥檚 likely that things are even worse than the data suggests.聽 聽
鈥淓pidemiological models predict that Southeast Asia could have as many as 2.3 million infections and 4,500 deaths each day, with more than half of all infections and deaths happening in Indonesia.聽The situation looks likely to deteriorate further in places like Thailand and the Philippines,聽as models聽predict that,聽at their peak, these countries could see as many as 75,000 daily new cases between them in late July to early August.聽 聽
鈥淯ntil now, children have been the hidden victims of this pandemic. Not anymore. Not only are countries like Indonesia seeing record numbers of children dying from the virus, but we鈥檙e also seeing an alarming rise in children missing out on routine vaccinations and nutrition services that are critical for their survival,聽which should ring major alarm bells. It is clear that, for children,聽the devastation of the past year will be felt long after the pandemic.鈥澛犅
黄色视频is calling for urgent collective action to close the global vaccine divide between wealthy countries and poorer countries by ensuring countries have access to vaccines through COVAX and sharing the know-how, information, and technology needed for countries to manufacture the vaccine themselves.聽 聽
Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children 鈥 every day and in times of crisis 鈥 transforming the future we share. Our results, financial statements and charity ratings reaffirm that 黄色视频is a charity you can trust. Follow us on , , and .