INDIAN SECOND WAVE AND VARIANTS HIT PLACED OTHER COUNTRIES ON HIGH ALERT

As India continues to grapple with an unrelenting second wave of Covid-19, some neighboring countries in South Asia are seeing their own surges in case numbers, prompting border closures and travel bans. India is now reporting approximately 1 million new coronavirus cases every three days, with the daily death toll exceeded 3,293 on Wednesday, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Health.

India's second wave emerged alongside a new local variant identified in late March, which has since been detected in numerous countries around the world including Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Scientists are still conducting genomic sequencing on the Indian variant, and no formal data has been published, meaning it remains unknown exactly how contagious the variant is, or what additional risks it might pose.

India shares land borders with Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Some of these borders are porous, with residents crossing back and forth every day. Several of these countries are grappling with their own surges in case numbers, despite closing borders and imposing restrictions. Nepal, which has identified cases of the Indian variant, has limited health care infrastructure and access to life-saving resources, raising fears it is ill-equipped to deal with a massive outbreak like the one ravaging India.

Countries are forced to take preemptive measures, especially those with no or minimal healthcare facilities that can combat the outbreak of the variant in large numbers. The rate at which the second wave and its variant is ravaging India will bring any country either developed or developing to its kneels healthwise.