‘TEMPORARY SUCCESS’

Coronavirus Cases Inch Back up in Asia, Denting Hopes That Disease Was Contained

Coronavirus cases have risen again after weeks of declines as people flee from the outbreak in Europe.

As Europe and the United States try to deal with their first waves of the coronavirus pandemic, there are concerning signs coming from Asia that this could only be the beginning of the struggle. The Financial Times reports that virus cases have inched back up in several Asian countries, denting hopes that strict containment measures introduced throughout the continent had been successful. The governments of South Korea, Taiwan, and some parts of China are reportedly bringing in urgent new containment measures after seeing rises in new infections after weeks of declines. “What many people hadn’t recognized is that it is only a temporary success, it is not a permanent success,” Ben Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong, told the FT. Infections appear to have increased as people fled home from the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, but the resurgence may also expose the limits of the containment strategy.