World Coronavirus Dispatch: Virus threatening Taiwan's status as safe haven

Southeast Asia's economies languish amid virus challenges, US FDA approves Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12-15, and other pandemic-related news across the world

Southeast Asia’s economies languish amid virus challenges

The resurgence in coronavirus cases is posing a threat to some of Southeast Asia's biggest economies, such as Malaysia and The Phillippines, which registered a degrowth in the first three months of the year. Other top regional economies such as Indonesia and Thailand have also had weak signals. The Philippines' gross domestic product shrank 4.2 per cent and Malaysia's, by 0.5 per cent. Meanwhile Indonesia last week reported a 0.74 per cent contraction and Thailand is expected to show a contraction as well when it reports first quarter figures next week. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 158,957,229

Global deaths: 3,303,877

Nations with most cases: US (32,744,100), India (22,992,517), Brazil (15,209,990), France (5,841,593), Turkey (5,044,936).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center
 

Fresh outbreak threatens Taiwan’s status as haven against virus

Taiwan reimposed restrictions on large gatherings as a slow-burning coronavirus outbreak escaped government efforts to contain it, threatening the island’s status as one of the standout successes of the global pandemic. Indoor gatherings will be limited to fewer than 100 people -- and 500 for outdoor events -- for the next four weeks. The announcement came after the government reported 11 new cases. After an initial outbreak of cases early in the pandemic, Taiwan has managed to keep the virus largely under control, even going more than eight months without a single domestic infection between April and December. Read here

US FDA approves Pfizer vaccine for children aged 12-15

The United States drug regulator approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12-15 years, a crucial step in the nation’s steady recovery from the pandemic and a boon to millions of American families eager for a return to normalcy. The authorisation ends weeks of anticipation among parents, who have been grappling with how to conduct their lives when only the adults in a household are immunised. However, the FDA’s go-ahead is not the final hurdle. An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to meet to review the data and make recommendations for the vaccine’s use in 12-15-year-olds. Read here

The world may need to learn to live with the virus

Virus variants are tearing through places where people gather in large numbers with few or no pandemic protocols, like wearing masks and distancing. Early in the pandemic, there was hope that the world would one day achieve herd immunity, the point when the coronavirus lacks enough hosts to spread easily. But over a year later, the virus is crushing India with a fearsome second wave and surging in countries from Asia to Latin America. Experts now say it is changing too quickly, new more contagious variants are spreading too easily and vaccinations are happening too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon. Read here