COVID-19 is flaring up in parts of Asia.
Thailand and China have each seen more than 150,000 cases this year, leading more people to mask up again in public; infections are also rising in Singapore and India.
Experts pointed to a new variant that is more resistant to immunity, though no economic disruptions have been reported, and the World Health Organization considers the global public health risk low.
The surge comes as the US has distanced itself from the WHO and adopted a skeptical stance toward COVID-19 vaccines; health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has advised against pregnant women and healthy children getting them. Those changes could make it harder to fight future pandemics, experts warned.
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