Covid-19 crisis Surge in covid cases in hot climates
During 2020, the cold climates of Europe and America suffered high infection and deaths from covid-19.

In 2021, the large infections are in the warm climates - India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam and other countries.  In the case of India, the deaths are horrendous.

The infections and deaths in 2021 appear to be moderately low in Europe and America.

What is the reason for the change in the regions that are now badly hit?

Could it be caused by a variant of the virus that is more infectious and harmful in warm climate?

I suspect that it could also be due to more active testing in the countries that are now reporting high number of cases. Last year, these countries probably did less testing. 

As more people are tested, more cases are reported.

It could also be caused by a change in the method of testing and the use of the antigen tests. This could probably cause more cases to be reported, compared to the more expensive PCR tests that were used in 2020.

So far, the death rates in most of the badly hit countries (except for India) appear to be low. Only a small percentage of infected people became seriously ill and need to be treated in hospital. India is an exception and need to be studied more closely.

Many countries, including Singapore, have introduced strong measures to stop the spread of the virus. In my view, these measures are premature and are harmful to the economy. I would prefer to wait for more evidence before taking the panic actions.

But I could be wrong.

Tan Kin Lian


 

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