I initially selected 14 countries for the first annual overview of the Far East. In my mind, a particularly interesting group had emerged that combined geographic location with a similar policy ideal while still encompassing major cultural differences. These are New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, South Korea and Japan respectively. Looking at the graphs briefly, I decided to remove Thailand and Indonesia from this collection and to add them to the countries around India. What remains is a collection of 12 countries in which COVID has never caused more than 50 victims per million inhabitants in an entire year. An indication that the pandemic is under long-term control?
