NewsTracker Answers for week of July 26, 2021

Q: In the past two weeks, death rates have soared in Southeast Asia as a new coronavirus wave, fueled by the virulent Delta variant, tightens its grip on the region. Where is Southeast Asia - the nations of Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malyasia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Indonesia has converted nearly its entire oxygen production to medical use just to meet the demand from Covid patients struggling to breathe. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world. What is the third most populous nation?

A. China

B. India

C. Pakistan

D. United States


D. With about 332 million people, the United States is the world’s third most populous nation, following China’s 1.41 billion people and India’s 1.37 billion. Indonesia has 271 million people on its more than 17,000 islands, and Pakistan ranks fifth in population with 225 million.


Q: While Indonesia is trying to increase oxygen supplies to hospitals, military rulers in another Southeast Asia nation have reportedly blocked some hospitals from buying oxygen as Covid has surged. Which nation, also known as Burma, is also arresting many doctors who have protested the military takeover?

A. Cambodia

B. Myanmar

C. Singapore

D. Vietnam


B. Myanmar doctors say the military has cut off oxygen supplies to private hospitals and charities, while hoarding the life-saving gas for the hospitals that treat military members and their families. Healthcare workers were among the first to peacefully protest against the military takeover on February 1. Last week, doctors and nurses reportedly were arrested as they went to treat COVID-19 patients in their homes.


Q: The Delta variant sweeping through Southeast Asia was first identified in what nation on Myanmar’s northwest border?

A. China

B. India

C. Laos

D. Thailand


B. The Covid variant was first detected in India last October, and the highly infectious strain has now spread globally. Officially, India has reported more than 414,000 coronavirus deaths, but scientists and researchers say the toll could be as high as 4 million. India and Bangladesh are on Myanmar’s northwest border; China is to the northeast; and Laos and Thailand are east and southeast.


Q: Fully vaccinated people are usually protected from death and severe infection from the Delta variant. Which nation has largest share of its people fully vaccinated?

A. Canada

B. Denmark

C. Malta

D. United States


C. The small Mediterranean island nation of Malta has fully vaccinated 73 percent of its half-million people against Covid, according to the New York Times. In Southeast Asia, the wealthy city-state of Singapore has fully vaccinated 51 percent of its population, while only 0.4 of a percent are fully vaccinated in Vietnam. In the United States, 49 percent of the people are fully vaccinated.