India Presses Ahead to Re-Opening Despite Surge in COVID Cases - Sound Familiar?

India is entering a new phase of reopening that will see subway trains running for the first time in months, despite skyrocketing daily coronavirus infections that are showing no sign of slowing down.

The country of 1.3 billion people has reported more than 75,000 infections for five consecutive days -- the fastest growing caseload of any country in the world.  Last week, India recorded 85,687 new Covid-19 infections, the world's highest single-day spike since the pandemic began, surpassing the previous record of 77,255 cases set by the United States on July 16.

India's infection rate has increased exponentially in recent weeks. It took almost six months for the country to record 1 million cases, another three weeks to hit 2 million, and only 16 more days to hit 3 million.  At this rate, India's total number of cases, now at over 3.6 million, is on track to outnumber that of Brazil to become the second highest in the world, behind the U.S.

A lifeline for millions of people living in the country's major cities, the metro rail networks were shut down in late March when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a "complete" lockdown that required residents to stay home and brought the country to a standstill.  But the strict lockdown -- imposed with little warning or planning -- also exacerbated India's inequality and economic woes. In urban areas, millions of daily wage earners were left without jobs or food -- and many made lengthy and sometimes fatal trips home to far away states, often on foot. 

 

Under pressure to resuscitate the battered economy, Modi's government started to roll back nationwide lockdown measures in May. "Corona will remain part of our lives for a long time, but we cannot allow our lives to be confined only around corona," Modi said in a national televised address at the time.

Since then, nationwide restrictions have been eased progressively, although some hard-hit parts of the country have enforced their own restrictions. But the number of infections has soared, from just over 180,000 cases on May 30 to hit a million by mid-July.

 

After initially appearing to have curbed the spread of the virus, India, the world's second most populous nation, has struggled to cope with the fast-expanding outbreak.  Across the country, critically ill virus patients have been turned away from public and private hospitals for lack of beds, staff and equipment. Earlier this month, a state minister died of the virus while two Indian cabinet ministers checked into hospital after testing positive.

 

The Indian health authorities have said that part of the reason for the soaring cases is an increase in testing. As of Saturday, the country has tested more than 41.4 million people, almost doubling the amount of tests conducted by early August.  Yet some experts believe cases are still being under-reported.   Modi has pointed to the country's widespread testing, high recovery rate and low death rates to highlight its success in handling the coronavirus. But others argue the pandemic has revealed the country's shortcomings in providing widespread accessible basic needs like health care, education, and electricity.