State of the Pandemic, Asia, China, Iran, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan
development

Period. 30 March – 5 April 2020

While China has virtually interrupted local transmission, it remains the fifth leading country with 81,620 confirmed cases and 3,322 reported deaths. Two thirds of new infections reported in China yesterday were asymptomatic, which has been concerning as authorities have taken steps to end the lockdown of Hubei province (with Wuhan remaining under lockdown until at least April 8).

The number of reported cases and deaths in Iran, meanwhile, keep rising to 53,183 and 3,294, respectively. There are no official lockdowns in Iran’s major cities, despite internal government estimates that mortality rates could be drastically limited to 7,700 instead of the projected “tens of thousands” of deaths by adopting ‘maximum’ interventions (e.g. banning movement inside cities, quarantines).

In South Korea 35% of confirmed cases within the last two weeks have been imported cases; more stringent control measures and monitoring have gone into effect as of today to deter incoming international travel. South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have significantly slowed new case counts, with the focus shifting to the containment of imported cases.

This development is part of the digest;