May 5, 2021 - World

In photos: The countries facing massive COVID surges

Rebecca Falconer

A cleaner wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) walks past a monk wearing a face mask at Hua Lamphong railway station in Bangkok on May 1 — Hua Lamphong railway station in Bangkok on May 1. Thailand last year went 100 days with no detected COVID-19 cases. Bloomberg's analysis of JHU data shows its coronavirus caseload jumped nearly 1,300% over the previous month (more than 40,000 new infections). Photo: Jack Taylor/AFP via Getty Images

Laos, Nepal and Thailand are among several countries now facing steep surges in COVID-19 cases that threaten to overwhelm their health care systems.

The big picture: The scale may be less than India's, but a Bloomberg analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows the percentage jump in caseloads recorded in the past month compared to the previous one in these nations is much higher than in the world's second-most populous country.

Nepalese workers wearing protective suits stand near the burning dead bodies of Coronavirus (COVID-19) victims during a cremation at the premises of Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. — A cremation for COVID-19 victims in Kathmandu, Nepal, which reported 58,390 cases in the past month — an increase of more than 1,600%. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe told reporters last week, "The situation in India can happen anywhere." Photo: Prabin Ranabhat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Police officers pass a market in locked down Luang Prabang, Laos, on April 27. — Luang Prabang, Laos, on April 27. The country of 7.1 million has seen the biggest month-on-month rise in the analysis — 884 cases (a 22,000% increase). The government extended the Laos lockdown on May 5 for another 15 days, per Malaysia's The Star. Photo: Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua via Getty Images

A health worker inoculate a dose of a COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine to a woman during the first day of vaccination in Bhutan, at Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary school in Thimphu on March 27 — A health worker on March 27 vaccinates a woman against the coronavirus in Thimphu, Bhutan, which saw a 909% month-on-month rise, with 222 cases in the population of over 763,000 people. Photo: Upasana Dahal/AFP via Getty Images

People buy vegetables through a gate amid lockdown restrictions introduced to try to halt a surge in cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Phnom Penh on May 3 — People buy vegetables through a gate amid a lockdown in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 3. Cambodia has seen nearly 12,000 more COVID-19 cases in the past month, a 604% rise. Photo: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP via Getty Images

A patient struggles to breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurudwara (Sikh Temple) under a tent installed along a roadside amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in Ghaziabad on May 4 — A tent installed along a roadside for coronavirus patients in Ghaziabad, India, on May 4. India recorded more than 7.2 million cases for the month analyzed, a 516% increase on the previous month. Photo: Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images

Go deeper: Pandemic's global toll rises even as rich world starts to move on