covid-19 pandemic in south asia covid-19 pandemic in south asia countries and territories in south asia have been affected by the covid-19 pandemic. the first south asian country to report a confirmed case was nepal, which documented its first case on 23 january 2020, in a man who had returned from wuhan on 9 january. as of 2 july, at least one case of covid-19 has been reported in every country in south asia. afghanistan, bangladesh, pakistan and maldives have implemented lockdowns, sri lanka has responded with quarantine curfews while india and nepal have declared a country-wide lockdown. countries have also instituted various levels of restrictions on international travel, some countries have completely sealed off their land borders and grounded most international flights. covid-19 pandemic in south asiasouth asia diseasecovid-19virus strainsars-cov-2locationsouth asiafirst outbreakwuhan, hubei, chinaindex casekathmandu, nepalarrival date5 january 2020confirmed cases8,395,617(17 february 2021)active cases1,176,416(17 february 2021)recovered7,347,826(17 february 2021)deaths128,625(17 february 2021)territoriesafghanistanbangladeshbhutanindiamaldivesnepalpakistansri lankagovernment websitesaarc disaster management centre india, pakistan, and bangladesh were three south asian countries that overtook china in terms of the number of coronavirus cases. in the middle of may, india was the first south asian country to overtake china in terms of the number of coronavirus cases. on 4 june, pakistan was the second south asian country. and on 13 june, bangladesh was the third south asian country. in india, the number of recoveries exceeded the number of active cases on 10 june. in pakistan, the number of recoveries exceeded the number of active cases on 3 july. and in bangladesh, the number of recoveries exceeded the number of active cases on 12 july. governments are attempting to coordinate a response to the pandemic through the regional organization, saarc, the south asia association for regional cooperation. india prime minister narendra modi proposed a joint emergency fund to tackle the pandemic, and pledged to seed us$10 million. as of 11 april, sri lanka had contributed us$5 million to the saarc covid-19 emergency fund and pakistan $3 million, bangladesh $1.5 million, afghanistan and nepal had given $1 million each, maldives had given $200,000 while bhutan $100,000. background the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2). the outbreak was first identified in wuhan, hubei, china, in december 2019 and recognised as a pandemic by the world health organization (who) on 11 march 2020. as of 29 march 2020, more than 708,000 cases of covid-19 have been reported in over 190 countries and territories, resulting in approximately 33,500 deaths. more than 150,000 people have since recovered. the virus primarily spreads between people in a way similar to influenza, via respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing. the time between exposure and symptom onset is typically five days, but may range from two to fourteen days. symptoms are most often fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. complications may include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment, but research is ongoing. efforts are aimed at managing symptoms and supportive therapy. recommended preventive measures include handwashing, covering the mouth when coughing, maintaining distance from other people (particularly those who are unwell), and monitoring and self-isolation for fourteen days for people who suspect they are infected. south asia is one of the most densely populated regions and having low testing rates, and is considered highly vulnerable to any large scale outbreak of an infectious disease. statistics territories date confirmed cases active cases recoveries deaths total tests tests per million population ref. india 22 jan 2022 39,237,264 2,187,192 36,560,650 489,422 713,499,892 509,234 bangladesh 15 jul 2022 1,994,433 44,085 1,921,123 29,225 14,484,461 86,205 pakistan 15 jul 2022 1,544,910 9,665 1,504,817 30,428 29,241,450 127,355 nepal 26 july 2022 984,475 3,714 968,802 11,959 5,804,358 206,592 afghanistan 22 jan 2022 159,548 5,970 146,188 7,390 842,743 20,916 maldives 15 jul 2022 183,491 19,497 163,687 307 2,213,831 3,954,068 sri lanka 22 jan 2022 601,048 9,832 575,932 15,284 6,007,118 278,713 bhutan 22 jan 2022 3,557 900 2,654 3 1,388,558 1,769,240 by country afghanistan main article: covid-19 pandemic in afghanistan map of the number of confirmed cases of covid-19 in afghanistan as of 17 april 2020. confirmed cases 0 confirmed cases 1–9 confirmed cases 10–19 confirmed cases 20-99 confirmed cases ≥100 on 24 february, afghanistan confirmed its first covid-19 case, in a 35-year-old man from herat province. on 7 march, three new cases were confirmed in herat. on 10 march, the first case outside of herat province, was reported in samangan province, bringing the total to five. by 22 march, the day afghanistan confirmed its first official death, the total number of cases had risen to 40. as of 29 march, a total of 120 cases had been confirmed, resulting in four deaths and three recoveries. afghanistan temporarily closed its border with iran on 23 february when first suspected cases emerged in herat province bordering iran. in march, it restricted most international flights. by the end of march, strict restrictions on the movement of people and public gatherings were in place in several provinces; lockdowns had also been implemented, including in kabul and kandahar. bangladesh main article: covid-19 pandemic in bangladesh the first three covid-19 cases of the country were found on 7 march 2020 that was officially confirmed on 8 march 2020 by professor dr. meerjady sabrina flora, former director, institute of epidemiology, disease control and research (iedcr). as of 29 march 2020, the government of bangladesh has confirmed testing 1095 samples among which there is a total of 48 confirmed cases, 15 recoveries, and 5 deaths in the country., were confirmed to have spread to bangladesh in march 2020. on 22 march, bangladesh declared a 10-day shut down effective from march 26 to 4 april . bhutan main article: covid-19 pandemic in bhutan on 6 march, bhutan confirmed its first covid-19 case, a 76-year-old us male who travelled to the country via india. around 90 people who came directly in contact with him, along with his 59-year-old partner, driver, and guide were quarantined. bhutan immediately restricted entry of foreign tourists for two weeks. on 20 march, the 59-year old partner of the american tourist tested positive for covid-19. although the driver and guide tested negative, both were held in extended quarantine even though their quarantine period had ended. on 22 march, jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck, the king of bhutan, announced in a national address that the country's land borders would be sealed off. on 24 march, the government closed all its borders with india. on 25 march, a student who had returned from the united kingdom was found to be positive for covid-19, the third case in the country. on 29 march, according to the ministry of health, a returning student in the quarantine facility tested positive. the patient was moved to the isolation ward in thimphu. india main article: covid-19 pandemic in india confirmed cases of covid-19 infections in india as of 2 may 2021 india has more than 5 million confirmed covid-19 cases in the world which is largest in asia and second largest in the world after united states with more than 82 thousand deaths and around 4 million patients recovered. country reported its first infection on 30 january 2020 while eventual moderate rise of infections took place due to students from wuhan and tourist groups from italy. in march, the transmissions grew after several people with travel history to affected countries, and their contacts, tested positive. on 12 march, a 76-year-old man, with a travel history to saudi arabia, became the first covid-19 fatality of india. a gathering by tablighi jamaat emerged as a super spreader event adding more than 4,000 cases directly. on 22 march, the government of india announced complete lockdown in 82 districts in 22 states and union territories of country where confirmed cases were reported. 80 cities including delhi, bengaluru, chennai, mumbai, chandigarh and kolkata were put under lockdown. some states sealed their borders barring inter-state movement. on 24 march, pm narendra modi announced a complete 21-day national lockdown to contain the pandemic. by 6 april, the doubling rate had slowed to six days from earlier figure of three days. oxford covid-19 government response tracker (oxcgrt) noted the government's swift and stringent actions, emergency policy-making, emergency investment in health care, fiscal stimulus, and investment in vaccine and drug r&d and gave india a score of 100 for the strict response. michael ryan, chief executive director of the who's health emergencies programme noted that india had tremendous capacity to deal with the outbreak owing to its vast experience in eradicating smallpox and polio. in june, india was ranked 56th of 200 countries in covid-19 safety assessment report by deep knowledge group. india initially suffered from a low testing rate, however has substantially increased it. country also has launched a number of research projects for treatment of disease and development of anti covid vaccines. demand amid pandemic has also turned india into world's second largest manufacturer of ppe after china. maldives main article: covid-19 pandemic in the maldives the covid-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to the maldives on 7 march 2020 from an italian tourist who had returned to italy after spending holidays in kuredu resort & spa. the health protection agency of the maldives confirmed two cases in the maldives, both employees of the resort. following this, the hotel was locked down with several tourists stranded on the island. as of 11 march, the islands resorts of kuredu, vilamendhoo, batalaa and kuramathi island have also been placed under temporary quarantine. the maldives declared a public health emergency over covid-19 on 12 march. on 27 march, the government announced the first confirmed case of a maldivian citizen with covid-19, a passenger who had returned from the united kingdom. this brought the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 16; the other 15 were foreign citizens. nepal main article: covid-19 pandemic in nepal a nepali student who had returned to kathmandu from wuhan became the first case of the country and south asia on 23 january 2020. the first case of local transmission inside the country was confirmed on 4 april, while the first covid-19 death came on 14 may. the country observed an almost four-month-long nationwide lockdown between 24 march and 21 july. as of 26 july 2022, the country has a total of 984,475 confirmed cases, 968,802 recoveries, and 11,959 deaths. sri lanka confirmed cases per districts main article: covid-19 pandemic in sri lanka when compared with other south asian countries, sri lanka has the best position. it has had the covid-19 outbreak for the longest duration but has managed to limit the case count the most. sri lanka also managed to keep lowest death rate in south asia. sri lanka's fatality rate is 0.7%. in may 2020, sri lanka was ranked the 9th best country in the world for its successful response in tackling the virus; however, sri lanka was also ranked the 16th most vulnerable country to covid-19. in may 2021, sri lanka started its vaccination program with the oxford–astrazeneca and sinopharm bibp vaccines and sputnik v. sri lanka has also ordered 5 million doses of pfizer–biontech becoming the first south asian nation to approve and ordered the pfizer vaccine. as of 13 may 2021 135,796 confirmed cases have been reported in the country with 892 deaths. a ban on foreign arrivals has been instituted postponed. pakistan main article: covid-19 pandemic in pakistan this section is an excerpt from covid-19 pandemic in pakistan. confirmed covid-19 casesper 100,000 residents the covid-19 pandemic in pakistan was a part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2). the virus was confirmed to have reached pakistan on 26 february 2020, when two cases were recorded (a student in karachi who had just returned from iran and another person in the islamabad capital territory). on 18 march 2020, cases had been registered in all four provinces, the two autonomous territories, and islamabad capital territory, and by 17 june, each district in pakistan had recorded at least one confirmed case of covid-19. despite being the world's 5th-most-populous country, pakistan only has so far recorded the world's 29th-highest death toll (at approximately 23,087) and 29th-highest number of confirmed cases (at approximately 1,011,708). however, these figures do not include undercounting