India’s largest and richest state, Maharashtra, will register its millionth new coronavirus infection on Friday, putting it on par with Russia in the pandemic and quelling India’s attempts to reverse an economic downturn.
The western state, home to the financial capital Mumbai, is on track to surpass the million mark, as infections have risen by some 20,000 a day recently.
Maharashtra, if it were a country, would now rival Russia for the fourth highest number of cases in the world. The rise in the state of 130 million people is the forefront of the impressive rise of COVID-19 in India, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the national total. India is likely to hit 5 million cases in the coming days, behind only the United States.
With the virus growing unabated in urban and rural areas of Maharashtra and state authorities scrambling to curb deaths from COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is paralyzed trying to revive an economy that contracted 23.9% in the second quarter compared to the previous year.
“Maharashtra accounts for about 15% of India’s GDP. Unless Maharashtra recovers, India’s chances of an economic recovery are slim,” said Reuben Abraham, director of the IDFC Institute, a group of policy experts. However, the Maharashtra authorities are unable to ease many restrictions in the state. Public transportation, shopping malls and other businesses remain depressed even as the rest of India is slowly getting back into business. That is unlikely to change anytime soon for a state that is home to several major industries, including its three most valuable companies: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, and HDFC Bank.
While Indian cities have resumed commuter rail transport, Maharashtra has been delayed. In Mumbai, where crowded trains define the working day, commuter train service has stopped since March for all but essential workers. The resumption of public transport in the city this month would lead to a second wave, which would be “difficult to manage”, says a research paper presented to the Mumbai authorities this week. In fact, the partial reopening of Maharashtra factories in recent months, local festivals and closure fatigue help explain the rise of COVID-19 in the state, local health officials told Reuters.
“People have gotten tired after spending months at home and are going out despite knowing they could get infected,” said Subhash Chavhan, a surgeon for the Satara district. “They no longer take the coronavirus seriously.”
The initial reopening of the state, starting in July, accelerated the spread to previously less affected rural areas, said Dr. Pradip Awate, Maharashtra’s disease surveillance officer.
The small village of Rajewadi did not have a single confirmed case of coronavirus until mid-August. Recently, one in four tested positive for the virus. Also contributing to the Maharashtra infections was last month’s festival for the god Ganesh, a Mumbai signature 11-day celebration that sees large numbers of people traveling to and from their hometowns.
“Before the Ganesh festival there were an average of 60 new cases a day in the district. Now we are registering more than 150,” said an official from the Ratnagiri coastal district.
COVID-19 is also deadliest in Maharashtra, where it has killed 2.85% of people with confirmed infections, well above the national death rate of 1.68%. The death toll in Maharashtra, more than 28,000, represents 37% of the total in India.
Rajesh Tope, Maharashtra’s health minister, defended the higher number of cases saying the state has been doing more testing than others and is also being more transparent. “We have never tried to hide cases just because they are increasing,” Tope said, adding that Maharashtra has cut the maximum private labs can charge for the most accurate RT-PCR tests to 1,200 rupees ($ 16), just a quarter. of the national price. Cap.
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