Why South Asia which has 20% of the world’s population but less than 2% of COVID-19 cases?
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Answer:
Despite being home to one-fifth of the world’s population, South Asia accounts for less than 35,000, or approximately 1.5 per cent, of the 24 lakh coronavirus cases worldwide.
The eight countries, which make up the Indian subcontinent and are part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
While the number of cases in Europe and North America was 14 lakh and 8.8 lakh, respectively, as of 22 April, India had 20,178 cases, Pakistan 9,749, Bangladesh 3,382, Afghanistan 1,092, Sri Lanka 321, Maldives 108, Nepal 42 and Bhutan 6. Even the positivity rate — the ratio of confirmed cases to total tests conducted — is lower in South Asia. The rates in India (4.36), Bangladesh (11.43), Pakistan (8.26) and Sri Lanka (4.19) are way lower than those for Italy (12.69), US (19.55), France (34.09) and Germany (8.59).
Experts have offered different reasons to explain this disparity — the warmer and more humid weather in the South Asian region tempered the spread of the disease, protection offered by the tuberculosis vaccine bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a potentially better immune response among those in the Indian subcontinent, and a weaker strain of the virus here. Some say the explanation could be a lot simpler — South Asian countries have likely implemented efficient physical distancing thanks to a slower first wave of spread within the countries. The nations are also reportedly seeing far lower testing numbers as compared to the rest of the world.
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