Delta engulfs Southeast Asia with fastest-growing deaths

A student reacts as she receives a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a mass vaccination program for students as COVID-19 cases surge, in Bandung, West Java Province Indonesia July 14, 2021. Antara Foto/Raisan Al Farisi/via REUTERS

SOUTHEAST Asia is emerging as a battlefield for one of the world’s worst Covid-19 outbreaks, due to the fast-spreading delta variant and the slow rollout of vaccines.

With a population about twice that of the U.S., the momentum of the region’s outbreak has now eclipsed previously hard-hit places like Latin America and India, with cases jumping 41% over the past week to more than a half-million, according to Bloomberg analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Deaths rose 39% in the seven days through Wednesday, the quickest pace in the world, and will likely rise further as a spike in fatalities typically follows a surge in cases.