December 8, 2020 
South Korea and Japan may have coronavirus numbers that would be the envy of much of Europe and the United States, but they aren’t taking any chances as winter brings with it a dangerous spike in infections.
Along with tighter restrictions, both east Asian countries have deployed their respective militaries to assist medical staff and help with contact tracing. In Japan, nurses from the Self-Defense Forces will assist local hospitals in Osaka and Hokkaido prefectures, as the country reported 1,518 new cases Monday — bringing its total to 164,641, including more than 2,395 deaths.
In South Korea, the military and police will help with contact tracing efforts, while testing centers will also extend their hours into the night and on weekends to encourage testing in the greater Seoul area. The country reported 594 cases from Monday — all but 28 of which were local transmissions — bringing its total caseload to 38,755, including 552 deaths.
Elsewhere in the region, Hong Kong is also experiencing a fourth wave of cases, forcing the cancellation of a planned travel bubble with Singapore as new restrictions are put in place. Taiwan, which went 200 days without a local transmission, also had a handful of new cases, along with a surge of imported infections, though those patients are all being quarantined.
Along with Australia and New Zealand, east Asian countries have been among the best at responding to coronavirus, tightening and relaxing restrictions as case numbers have allowed — thus enabling life to return to relative normality for extended periods. The world will now be watching closely as the region faces a winter surge that is likely to challenge the early stages of the pandemic for severity and misery.
– CNN
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