India has low coronavirus death rate but worries about migrants on the move
Migrant workers and their families wait to get on a bus to reach a railway station to board a train to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
India on Tuesday recorded a total of 145,380 coronavirus infections and a death toll of 4,167, comparatively low figures for the world's second-most populous country.
But separate states witnessing millions of migrant labourers returning from the big cities were recording rising infections, officials said, fearing that the pandemic could spread through villages where medical care is basic at best.
Migrant workers and their families stand in queues to get themselves registered for trains to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Health ministry officials said that India's death rate stood at 0.3 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to what they said was a world average of 4.4.
"We have surprisingly found a low fatality rate in India, which is very good," said Balram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, in New Delhi.
Officials from the home and railway ministries said at least 4.5 million workers had migrated home from economic hubs in the two months since Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a lockdown.
A migrant worker carrying his father on his back has his temperature checked before getting themselves registered for a train to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
The eastern state of Bihar registered more than 160 infections on Monday, its highest one-day rise, taking its tally to more than 2,700 cases. In the past 48 hours, more than 75 people tested positive in Odisha and 176 in different districts in the desert state of Rajasthan.
The latest cases have forced authorities to stretch limited testing resources.
"Dozens of labourers who travelled from New Delhi have tested positive. We are ensuring that no one enters their village with this infection," said Gaurav Sinha, a senior health official in Bihar's capital, Patna.
Belongings of migrant workers and their families, who wait to get on a bus to reach a railway station to board a train to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, are seen on the ground during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Economists studying reverse migration patterns said India's poorest migrant labourers have been the worst hit by the lockdown. TV footage early in the crisis showed police beating migrant workers as they tried to board city buses to reach their villages, making a mockery of social distancing.
(Additional reporting by Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad, Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow, Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar, Editing by Nick Macfie)
People wait in a line to board a train that will take them to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasA boy jumps into a canal to cool off on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiA boy carries his brother as he walks to reach a bus to take them to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasMigrant workers and their families stand in queues to get themselves registered for trains to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiA migrant girl carries luggage on her head as she walks to reach a bus to take her to her home state of Uttar Pradesh, during an extended lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mumbai, India, May 26, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
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