PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images
- Southeast Asian countries are seeing record numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
- India accounts for about half of the world's coronavirus cases and 25% of deaths.
- Experts are warning that what's happening in India will occur in countries like Nepal.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Multiple countries across Southeast Asia are experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths, CNN reported.
While India accounts for about half of the world's new cases and a quarter of all global coronavirus deaths in the past week, many countries in its vicinity are experiencing new waves of their own.
"The Southeast Asia region reported over 2.7 million new cases and over 25,000 new deaths, a 19% and a 48% increase respectively compared to the previous week," the WHO said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
Right next door in Nepal, many are worried as the country's cases skyrocket, mimicking the outbreak in India. Nepal is recording 57 times as many cases as a month ago, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a press release.
"What is happening in India right now is a horrifying preview of Nepal's future if we cannot contain this latest COVID surge that is claiming more lives by the minute," Netra Prasad Timsina, chair of the Nepal Red Cross, said in the statement.
The spikes can be seen across the region, not just in countries bordering India.
The impact of the wave in India can be felt as far away as Indonesia, where there have been two confirmed cases of the highly infectious variant B.1.617, Reuters reported. Indonesia has also been seeing a surge of new cases, with an average of about 5,000 daily COVID-19 cases in the past week, CNN reported.
Sri Lanka's daily cases on Friday were almost five times what they were in early April with 1,895 reported.
The Maldives, which has seen a large number of Indian tourists, has also recently experienced a rise in cases, CNN reported.
While Thailand was able to contain an outbreak in 2020, cases have been on the rise since the end of last year and on Friday 1,911 new cases were reported.
"We need to act now and we need to act fast to have any hope of containing this human catastrophe," Alexander Matheou, the IFRC's Asia-Pacific regional director said in the statement. "This virus has no respect for borders and these variants are running rampant across Asia."