Patient COVID-19 was treated in an isolation ward in New Delhi, India on May 8, 2021. Photo: THX / TTXVN Half a month ago, when the COVID-19 crisis shook India, the Regional Director of South Asia at the International Association of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Udaya Regmi warned the rate of infection. The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the region is “really frightening”, possibly making South Asia “the new epicenter of the next US pandemic”. In the past two weeks, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, the number of new infections in this region has been higher than the total number of cases in the first six months of the pandemic combined – an explosion that has stunned at South Asia. Along with India, the number of new infections is increasing alarmingly across South Asia, especially in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Charities fear South Asia is approaching “disaster”. Experts say that the epidemic situation in South Asia has become more serious recently, mainly due to the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially the double mutation in India. Over the past week, Nepal has seen a number of new cases of more or less 9,000 cases / day, while this number during March was only a few dozen cases. The number of reported infections in Nepal is 57 times more now than in April 2021. The rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection per 100,000 population per day increased more than 7 times in just two weeks. In Sri Lanka, since the beginning of May alone, more than 18,000 new infections have been recorded. If on April 27, for the first time, the number of cases per day in this country reached 4 digits, then on May 10, the South Asian country witnessed the highest number of cases ever, 2672 cases. Pakistan in February averaged 1,100 cases per day, now this number has increased 5 times. Maldives on 11/5 recorded 1,204 cases, while a week ago the average daily number was about 600 cases. The rapid infection rate in all South Asian countries makes experts warn a new global epidemic wave is emerging that South Asia is the epicenter. Dr. Ashish Jha, Rector of Brown University of Public Health (USA) commented: “Here’s the bottom line: When there are big outbreaks, those variations will arise… India is a large country. “People and at large, when there are big outbreaks there, we will have to worry about new variants that are more harmful to the people of this country and of course they will spread around the world.” India first discovered variant B.1.617 in October 2020 and WHO classified it as a “variant of concern” at a global level due to its more contagious nature and higher mortality. as well as being resistant to many current vaccines and treatments. According to reports, this variant has appeared in at least 17 countries. Explaining the cause of the current devastating COVID-19 “tsunami” in South Asia, experts say that the region is inherently densely populated, with a large number of poor living together in the Narrow spaces in the slums of the city or rural areas turn this into “fertile ground” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to rage. Currently more than 35% of the about 800 million poor people worldwide are struggling with the pandemic living in South Asia. People wait in line for the COVID-19 vaccine to be vaccinated in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. Photo: THX / TTXVN As one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal was hit by a pandemic while still sinking in serious crises after the 2015 earthquake disaster. Currently, 44% of health care facilities here are damaged after The earthquake has not yet been reconstructed, more than 70% of the population has to earn a living by informal jobs so they do not have access to the social safety net. Since 2015, an additional 700,000 Nepalese have fallen into the poverty line. High density of the population, the proportion of people who are malnourished and have no income are factors that increase the risk of COVID-19 more easily and make medical care almost impossible. Although Nepal has increased its border controls and imposed blockades in heavily affected areas, including the capital, Kathmandu, experts fear that is not enough to keep the virus from spreading. As fast as a wind from the Kathmandu valley to the foot of Mount Everest. Meanwhile, the Maldives archipelago has an economy dependent on tourism, so it reopened the border to international tourists since July 2020 after 3 months of blockade, becoming the first country to celebrate. welcome foreign tourists in the midst of a pandemic still raging around the world. Until India’s other neighbors have begun to close their borders and impose a travel ban, resorts in the Maldives still welcome Bollywood stars and Indian citizens who want to visit the island nation. avoid the domestic epidemic crisis. As a result, early May, the Center for Medical Emergencies (HEOC) Maldives said hospital admissions had tripled in just a few days and that a new variant of the virus could have entered the island nation. In Sri Lanka, in the early days of May, the number of new infections in the day quickly exceeded the peak of the first wave in February. Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi admitted this was the result of mass gatherings in New Year’s Eve (April 13-14), when many people go to the streets to celebrate and go shopping. In Pakistan, schools and restaurants have been closed, shops have shortened hours of operation and troops have been deployed in response to the epidemic. But every night, groups of devout Muslims flock to temples across the country to pray, though Pakistani authorities have tightened restrictions on and banned travel during Eid al- Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Pakistan has recorded more than 861,000 cases and nearly 19,000 deaths, but the testing system in the country is very limited while the health care infrastructure is sagging, prompting experts to warn of epidemics. much worse. Home to half of the world’s poor, South Asian countries lack adequate public health facilities and are increasingly scarce in the medical supplies needed during a pandemic outbreak today. The countries in the region depend on India, the largest country in South Asia, for medical equipment and especially vaccines. However, India is also facing a serious shortage of both anti-epidemic products. The current very low vaccination rates in South Asia are one of the reasons the virus spreads “out of control”. According to UNICEF data, in most countries in the region, less than one tenth of the population is vaccinated. About 1.7 million out of nearly 30 million Nepalese people have just received the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Among them, 380 thousand people received the second shot. It is also worrying that investment in public health in most countries remains modest. According to World Bank (WB) data, in 2017, Sri Lanka invested about 2% of GDP in public health, Bangladesh at 2.27% of GDP, the figure in Pakistan was 2.9% and 3 , 19% are in Bhutan, while the US is 17.06%, Austria is 10.4%, and Brazil 9.47%. Due to limited investment in health, most South Asian countries are “ragged” in the pandemic. For example, Nepal has about 1,600 hospital beds with active treatment and less than 600 ventilators, on average 0.7 doctors will care for 100,000 people. Sri Lanka, at a rate of 3.6 hospital beds for every 1,000 people and 1,200 people with only 1 doctor, quickly fell into overcrowding due to the pandemic. Cremation of patients dying from COVID-19 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: THX / TTXVN Moreover, since South Asia is one of the two regions with the highest poverty rates in the world (along with the southern Sahara), experts warn the consequences of this outbreak for South Asia will be. very cruel. According to the World Bank, COVID-19, which has been raging for more than a year, can push an additional 115 million people deep into poverty and most of the “new poor class” will be concentrated in South Asia. It can be said that the “terrible storm” COVID-19 that swept through India has also swept into other poor countries of South Asia. Dr. Netra Prasad Timsina, of the Red Cross of Nepal, warned “what is happening in India right now is the terrible future of South Asian countries” if we do not take drastic action. IFRC Asia Pacific Director Alexander Matheou also affirmed, “We need to act now, quickly to have hope of preventing this disaster,” because the virus “does not distinguish borders and strains are spreading throughout Asia “. South Asia is the region that accounts for 25% of the world’s population and whether the region can overcome the COVID-19 crisis will determine the “success or failure” of the fight against the global pandemic.

A COVID-19 test site in Australia. (Photo: AFP / VNA) Goverment New Zealand has suspended the program stimulate tourism just opened to Australia, after appearing a drive COVID-19 translation new in this neighboring country. Announcing on the official website on April 23, the New Zealand Government stated: “As agreed in the Trans-Tasman tourism stimulus protocol (between the two countries), the travel between New Zealand and Western Australia. had to pause, wait for the next announcement. ” The decision was made after the state of Western Australia said the Perth and Peel regions began a 3-day blockade (from 0:00 on April 24) after a tourist tested positive for the SARS virus. -CoV-2 causes COVID-19 disease. Local media reported that a man in his 50s traveled from Perth to Melbourne on April 21 and tested positive on the morning of April 23. Previously, this person underwent regulatory quarantine at a hotel in Perth and when the quarantine ended, for five days in the city, he went to several restaurants, a university, a swimming pool. public, a private clinic and a friend’s home before leaving. The friend he visited also tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. New Zealand and Australia has opened a program to stimulate tourism in isolation since April 18, nearly 400 days after the two sides closed the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is the result of months of negotiations between two neighboring countries that have essentially curbed this translation, which is seen as a major effort to re-start the travel industry between the two countries that are already heavily impacted. plague. Under the program, passengers from Australia to New Zealand can fly over the Tasman Sea without having to undergo mandatory isolation on entry.

Lao cuisine has a style similar to that of neighboring countries Cambodia and Thailand. However, Lao cuisine has its own distinctive styles because of the blend of spicy, sour and sweet, neutralized with herbs to make a difference and appeal only in Laos. Lao cuisine has many specialties such as Tam Mak Houng, also known as papaya salad, sausage, bamboo shoot soup, grilled fish, sticky rice … of which Tam Mak Houng is famous and loved in the country of Trieu Voi . For Lao people, Tam Mak Houng is never lacking, especially in the traditional Lao rice tray, this dish has penetrated the culinary culture of the Lao people and always makes an impression. unforgettable for the first time visitors enjoy. In Laos, you can easily find this dish everywhere, in idyllic markets, sidewalk stalls to luxury restaurants. Tam Mak Houng (papaya salad). Photo: esabai.com The preparation of this dish is quite similar to the papaya salad in Vietnam, but the delicate blending of traditional Lao ingredients, the unique flavor, sophisticated processing has created a dish. Tam Mak Houng is characteristic and unforgettable. To process Tam Mak Houng, the main ingredients include: papaya, garlic, chili, tomato, lemon, sugar, noodles, shrimp paste, fish sauce … First, for the best Tam Mak Houng, the selection of papaya is very important, papaya must be green, not too young and not too ripe. Then shredded, but to make Tam Mak Houng more delicious, mince around the papaya and slice it thin. Next, add a few cloves of garlic, some chili, lemon juice, a little sugar, and seasoning noodles in a mortar to blend the spices together. Then, put the papaya, sliced ​​tomatoes and fish sauce into the bowl and pound immediately, to prepare the delicious Tam Mak Houng, the processor must pound with the right force, not too hard, not too light, too strong, too strong will lose. go crispy, and lightly pounding the spices, which do not penetrate the papaya fibers, so the processing is extremely important, requiring meticulousness, carefulness when seasoning and craftsmanship, if there is no agility With the taste, it is difficult to properly prepare this dish. The fish sauce used to make Tam Mak Hung is also called “Pa Det”, so the smell is quite heavy, but when mixed with papaya and spices, it is very fragrant and attractive, but if you are not used to the taste of fish sauce, it can be replaced. with normal fish sauce and the spicy, sour, and sweetness can be adjusted according to the preferences of the enjoyers. Tam Mak Hung is used to drink beer or eat with sticky rice. The aroma of spices and sourness of lemons, spicy chili, sweetness of sugar and salty taste of fish sauce will give each person a unique feeling. Tam Mak Hung is also eaten with herbs, peanuts, crispy pork skin … making anyone who has enjoyed this dish will remember forever.

“Accordingly, people should only have close contact with people who live with them. If they have to meet another person, it is necessary to consider that the person may be carrying a disease”, Mr. Kohler explained further.

Dr Anders Tegnell, a Swedish epidemiologist, said: “The measures taken against corona virus are completely consistent with the epidemiological situation in Uppsala district. This provision is not much different from the Swedish government’s message that requires people to practice social distance and limit communication as much as possible ”.

Swedish residents passed by a bulletin board that read: “Danger is not over. Keep your distance,” in the center of Uppsala district. Photo: AFP.

Preventive measures have been introduced in the face of increasing recognition of new Covid-19 infections.

Uppsala County found an average of 908 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, higher than the average rate of new infections across Sweden with 772 cases. “Therefore, the new rules are absolutely necessary,” said Mikael Kohler.

Uppsala District has 2 universities, Uppsala University and Swedish Agricultural Science University. “A lot of young people come and come here. This is the main reason leading to the number of new infections continuing to increase here ”, Mr. Kohler added.

Some argue that the Swedish government has been “very passive” compared to neighboring countries in fighting the epidemic since it became a worldwide pandemic.

Sweden has strengthened quarantine measures since the second outbreak in October 2020, including limiting the concentration of people in stores and in public places. However, Sweden does not require complete isolation like Great Britain or France.

On April 13, Sweden recorded an average of 587 new infections per 1 million people in the last 7 days, mainly infected with virus variants from the UK. This figure far exceeds that of other countries in Europe, including France and Poland.

(Source: geekwire)

On April 14, Google technology company launched a new cloud data center in Warsaw, Poland with an investment of nearly 1.7 billion euros ($ 2 billion). This is Google’s first hub of this type in Central and Eastern Europe.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki welcomed the move, affirming that this will ensure better quality of service for public and private facilities, while also helping to increase security as data will be stored at Poland.

Manager Google Cloud in Poland Magdalena Dziewguc expressed hope that Google’s new cloud data center will support the recovery from pandemic COVID-19, as well as to contribute to the growing economy of Poland and its neighbors.

Interim US attorney in Poland Bix Aliu said US companies have invested about $ 60 billion in Poland and Google has increased that figure by nearly $ 2 billion through expanding cloud services.

In 2020, the Polish economy fell into recession for the first time in three decades due to the epidemic crisis. It is forecasted that the economy of this country will recover this year and the Polish Government is promoting the development of the technology sector.

Also last year, Microsoft announced it would invest $ 1 billion to expand operations in Poland, including setting up a new cloud data center in the region.

Google and Microsoft are the leaders in providing services cloud computingfields worth hundreds of billions of dollars. In addition to charging service fees, operators can collect huge amounts of data and open up many other sources of revenue.