India COVID misery leaves Asia keen to help but fearful of variants

Singapore and other countries offer aid while tightening border rules

20210427 india cremtorium

Health workers wearing personal protective equipment carry wood for cremating COVID-19 victims in New Delhi on April 26. © Reuters

KENTARO IWAMOTO, Nikkei staff writer

SINGAPORE -- Asian and other countries are rushing to send oxygen and critical medical supplies to India, as its exploding COVID-19 infections push its medical infrastructure toward a breaking point.

At the same time, governments -- in some cases the same ones offering help -- are imposing stricter border controls against arrivals from India. They hope to protect their own populations from potentially more contagious virus variants that were first detected in India and have already turned up on foreign shores.

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