Advertisement
Coronavirus pandemic
OpinionComment
Ian Inkster
Ian Inkster

Opinion | Why East Asia has an edge in keeping off the worst of Covid-19

  • From Japan to Singapore, East Asia’s developed economies continue to report remarkably fewer infections and deaths
  • This is despite the early vaccine advantages of their rich Western peers, and even as milder variants lower death rates globally

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
3
Illustration: Craig Stephens
Ian Inkster
The global spread of Covid-19 has been much altered by effective vaccines and the emergence of milder, less dangerous variants of the coronavirus. Even without vaccination, new Covid-19 outbreaks are far less likely to kill at this phase of the pandemic.
Advertisement

But differences remain, particularly between rich and poor nations, and between the East and the West. Looking at the top 12 nations with the most Covid-19 cases so far – namely and in order, the United States, India, France, Brazil, Germany, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Russia, Türkiye and Spain – three trends can be seen.

First, the US has by far the world’s most Covid-19 cases, at more than 98.5 million against second-ranked India’s 44.6 million. It also lies in a stark position in terms of cases per million people in the population, a far more indicative figure, compared with much poorer nations. At more than 294,000 per million, the US figure is nearly 10 times India’s, twice Brazil’s and 50 per cent higher than Türkiye’s – all high-Covid, low-income nations.

Second, the mortality rate also shows a global skew among the unfortunate dozen. The US remains well ahead with 3,250 deaths per million, leading a group of rich nations where deaths range from nearly 1,800 per million in Germany to more than 2,900 in Italy, with the UK, France and Spain lying in between.

While Brazil was in the range with 3,190 deaths per million, the poorer economies among the top 12 generally reported a lower mortality rate, such as Türkiye with more than 1,180 and India with just 376.
Advertisement

Thirdly, Japan’s unique numbers illustrate the singularity of East Asia’s Covid-19 experience. Japan is a rich industrial nation with a large population (about 126 million), yet its Covid-19 statistics appear closer to the lower rates reported by the poor ones.

Advertisement