Why South Asia Has Less COVID19 Cases than Europe

Sunday 26th of April 2020

Why South Asia Has Less COVID19 Cases than Europe

Despite being home to one-fifth of the world’s population, South Asia has less than 35,000, or approximately 1.5 per cent, of the 24 lakh coronavirus cases worldwide. Experts have offered different reasons to explain this difference. However, it is also true that these 8 countries in South Asia- Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan- have lower testing rates.

Social Distancing

Coronavirus is a disease that very easily spreads from person to person. South Asian countries have likely implemented efficient physical distancing thanks to a slower first wave of spread within the countries. For instance, it took India 74 days to cross 10,000 Covid-19 cases — much slower than US and UK.

Climate

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.