Suriname, 6th, makes listing as second CARICOM state ranked against nine developing countries

Data published by US-based Bloomberg News indicate that among developing countries affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago’s current surge is the fifth-worst in the world.

Bloomberg, in a feature on Monday (May 3), analysing data from the John Hopkins University concluded that while India’s crippling outbreak grabbed many international headlines, other developing countries are also feeling the weight of spiralling outbreaks.

With respect to the twin-island republic, Bloomberg found that in the last month leading up to May 2, Trinidad and Tobago had recorded 3,197 new cases.

Marked against the percentage change over the previous month, the report said the spike represented a 701 per cent increase in Trinidad’s cumulative caseload.

Trinidad was the second CARICOM member listed by Bloomberg, which also saw Suriname ranking sixth among developing countries with a 612 per cent rate increase up to Monday, May 2.

Across the developing world, Laos has the worst rate of increase by a whopping 22,000 per cent, miles ahead of the other nine ranked countries.

“Ranked by the change in newly recorded infections in the past month over the previous month, Laos came first with a 22,000 per cent increase, followed by Nepal and Thailand, both of which saw fresh caseload skyrocketing more than 1,000 per cent on a month-over-month basis,” Bloomberg reported.

“Also on top of the list are Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Cambodia and Fiji, as they witnessed the epidemic erupt at a high triple-digit pace,” the report added.

In a justification, Bloomberg warned that the resurgence—and in some cases, first-time outbreaks in places that largely avoided its deadlier impacts in 2020—heightens the urgency of delivering vaccine supplies to “poorer, less influential countries and averting a protracted pandemic”.

See list of nine worst-hit developing countries, according to Bloomberg, below: