[Grammar] Past perfect Continuos - had been a resurgence...

[DANAU]

Hi. I extracted the paragraphs below from a local newspaper article and the link is appended.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-must-be-ready-to-face-second-covid-19-wave-gan

[ While some, including China and New Zealand, have largely managed to bring the outbreak under control, others are experiencing a resurgence weeks after relaxing social distancing measures, he noted.

"We must be prepared for a second wave too. But we must do our best to avoid it, if we can."

In many countries or regions where there had been a resurgence, it was because safe management and safe distancing measures were not adhered to, Mr Gan said.

In Tokyo, for example, more than 300 cases have been linked to nightlife establishments, while in South Korea, religious gatherings have led to more than 110 cases. ]

My question is given the situation of Covid-19 resurgence is still going on, is there any reason the writer used "had been" instead of "has been"?
It seems that for this case, present perfect continuos tense "has been" should be more appropriate.

Also, both the paragraphs before and after are using present perfect tense too.

 

[emsr2d2]

The writer has backshifted in order to produce reported speech. Mr Gan probably said "In many countries ... where there has been a resurgence, it is because ...". The two verbs become "had been" and "was" in reported speech.

My question is, given the situation of Covid-19 resurgence is still going on, is there any reason the writer used "had been" instead of "has been"?
It seems that [STRIKE]for[/STRIKE] in this case, the present perfect continuous tense "has been" [STRIKE]should[/STRIKE] would be more appropriate.

Bear in mind that [the situation of] Covid-19 is ongoing. The situation of "Covid-19 resurgence" isn't. The piece refers to those places that had experienced resurgences.