Lockdowns in Asia as some nations see 1st major virus surges

Several countries around Asia and the Pacific that are experiencing their first major surges of the coronavirus have rushed to implement tough restrictions

BANGKOK -- Several countries around Asia and the Pacific that are experiencing their first major surges of the coronavirus rushed to implement tough restrictions Friday, a year and a half into a pandemic that many initially weathered well. Faced with rapidly rising numbers of infections in recent months, authorities hope the measures can slow the spread before health care systems are overwhelmed. It's a rhythm familiar in much of the world, where repeated surges deluged hospitals and led to high numbers of deaths. But many Asian countries avoided that cycle by imposing stiff travel restrictions combined with tough measures at home. Now some are seeing record numbers of new cases and even deaths, blamed in part on the highly contagious delta variant combined with low rates of vaccination and decisions to ease restrictions that have hit economies hard. Though overall numbers are nowhere yet near those seen during outbreaks in hotspots in Europe and the United States, the rapid rise set off alarm bells just as many Western countries with high vaccine rates began to breathe a sigh of relief.