Employees of the Center for Health Protection evacuate a resident of The Salvation Army Lung Hang Residence for Senior Citizens in Sha Tin after staff members at the residence contracted the coronavirus, July 24, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

Even as fatalities from the global pandemic have slowed in many countries due in part to earlier detection and better treatment, some places are fighting resurgences that are far deadlier than their initial outbreaks.

In Hong Kong and Australia, fatalities have surged over the past month as new flareups entered nursing homes and elderly care facilities. Almost 90% of COVID-19 deaths in the Asian financial center have happened since its resurgence started in early July -- 48 deaths as of Monday, seven times its toll from the first half of the year.

Since a new wave of infection started at the end of June, twice as many people have died nationwide as in the first half of the year

In Australia, fatality records were broken on two consecutive days as 17 people died on Sunday in the state of Victoria, followed by 19 deaths on Monday. Since a new wave of infection started at the end of June, twice as many people have died nationwide as in the first half of the year.

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While the case-fatality ratios and overall death toll in both places continue to be low compared to countries like the US, their deadlier latter waves are a reminder of the devastation the pandemic continues to wreak, especially on elderly populations. Though resurgences in countries like Japan and Spain have so far been centered on younger people, any spread of infection to their large older populations could quickly turn deadly, making early containment efforts more urgent.

The worrying picture has forced governments to re-impose social distancing measures, stamping out green shoots of economic recovery. Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, is a month into a strict lockdown that has been tightened repeatedly, while Hong Kong has banned gatherings of more than two people not from the same family.

Any spread of infection to their large older populations could quickly turn deadly, making early containment efforts more urgent

Many of the deaths in Hong Kong and Victoria state have been related to outbreaks in elderly care homes, following a grim global pattern. An analysis by the Canadian Institute for Health Information in June showed that residents in long-term care homes accounted for an average of 42% of coronavirus deaths in 16 OECD economies; in Canada, the proportion was over 80%.

In Hong Kong, officials evacuated several elderly care homes earlier this month to contain the spread. In addition to smaller clusters, almost a hundred infections have been linked to two homes, one in Tsz Wan Shan and one in Tuen Mun. In Australia’s Victoria state, about a hundred aged care facilities have been affected in the outbreak.

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On Monday, Hong Kong reported 67 new local infections among which 22 are of unknown origins, while Australia detected 322 new cases.