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The growing number of coronavirus cases in India made the Asian giant the second most affected country by the pandemic behind the United States on Monday, as its efforts to avoid economic disaster take on urgency.
The 90,802 cases added in the last 24 hours pushed India’s total beyond Brazil with 4.2 million cases. India is now only behind the United States, where more than 6.2 million people have been infected, according to Johns Hopkins University.
India’s Health Ministry also reported 1,016 deaths on Monday for a total of 71,642, the third highest national number.
Manish Swarup / AP
Coronavirus cases in India are now the second highest in the world and only behind the United States, as the number of cases passes through Brazil.
India, the second most populous country in the world with 1.4 billion people, has seen the largest daily increases in coronavirus cases in the world for almost a month. Despite the more than 2 million new cases in the last month and the spread of the virus through the country’s smaller cities and towns, the Indian government has continued to relax restrictions to try to revive the economy.
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On Monday, the Delhi Metro, a rapid transit system that serves India’s sprawling capital New Delhi and adjacent areas, resumed operations after five months.
Only asymptomatic people were allowed to board the rattling trains, with masks, social distancing and mandatory temperature checks.
“We’re on our way. It’s been 169 days since we saw you!” Tweeted the official Delhi Metro Twitter account.
Manish Swarup / AP
The number of coronavirus cases in India crosses Brazil on a day when urban metro trains partially resume service in the capital, New Delhi, and other states.
The capital’s metro train network is the largest rapid transport system in India. Before closing in March, full trains carried an average of 2.6 million passengers a day.
The reopening comes after India’s economy contracted faster than any other major nation, nearly 24 percent in the latest quarter.
India’s economic pain can be traced back to the demonetization of the nation’s currency in 2016 and the hasty launch of a goods and services tax next year. But the severe virus lockdown that began on March 24 further exacerbated the country’s economic woes.
Manish Swarup / AP
Initially affected by the virus, New Delhi appeared to change course through its aggressive screening of patients. But after constantly reopening, the state has reported a recent spike in cases and deaths.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered 1.4 billion Indians to stay home, the entire economy was shut down within four hours. Millions lost their jobs instantly and tens and thousands of migrant workers, penniless and fearing hunger, left the cities and returned to the villages. The unprecedented migration not only hollowed out India’s economy, it also spread the virus to the far reaches of the country.
Now, as cases increase, most of the country, except in high-risk areas, has already opened up and authorities say they have few options.
“While lives are important, livelihoods are just as important,” Rajesh Bhusan, the top official in India’s federal Ministry of Health, told a news conference last week.
Manish Swarup / AP
The recent surge in cases also highlights the risks of India’s strategy of relying too heavily on rapid tests that detect viral antigens or proteins.
Almost 60 percent of active cases in India come from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India. But infections are also returning to areas that had managed to slow the spread of the virus, offsetting the marginal gains.
Initially affected by the virus, New Delhi appeared to change course through its aggressive screening of patients. But after constantly reopening, the state has reported a recent spike in cases and deaths. The reopening of the subway is expected to make the situation even worse, experts fear.
The recent surge in cases also highlights the risks of India’s strategy of relying too heavily on rapid tests that detect viral antigens or proteins. These tests are inexpensive, produce results in minutes, and have enabled India to test over a million patients a day.
But they are also less accurate and likely to miss infected people, said Dr. Gagandeep Kang, an infectious disease expert at Christian Medical College in Vellore, South India.
India also says its recovery rate is 77.3 percent and the fatality rate has dropped to around 1.72 percent.
