India has over 246,628 coronavirus cases, data from the health ministry showed Sunday, crossing the COVID-19 tally of Spain and is ranked fifth in the world in terms of cases, after the US, Brazil, Russia and the UK.
As migrant workers fan out to their villages, some states with an existing heavy burden of cases are facing a second wave of infectionshttps://t.co/Ojjgl0XjjG
— Livemint (@livemint) June 4, 2020
The influx of an estimated 40 million migrant workers from cities into villages has triggered a fresh wave of infections in areas that had been relatively untouched by the coronavirus posing multiple challenges for authorities.
Rural cases increase
With more persons getting tested for the virus daily, the percentage of Covid-19 patients in rural areas is constantly increasing as compared to that in urban parts.
“Our goal is to control the pandemic and then restore normalcy so that life can go on. That balance is key to all decisions on restrictions. We have to make sure that the size of the pandemic remains below our capacity to treat patients,” VK Paul, chairman of the national task force against COVID-19, told RFI.
The western state of Rajasthan saw a steady spike in cases, surpassing numbers in urban areas as migrants poured in from states where they were working in. About 30 per cent of COVID cases in the state are now from rural districts.
In the eastern state of Bihar, official data showed that of the 3872 coronavirus cases recorded until June 1, 2743 were linked to migrants workers who returned after May 3, when the government began to run trains and buses to reduce the exodus on foot.
Similarly the southern state of Andhra Pradesh reported about 1,500 cases in the last three weeks, of which about 500 cases emerged from the rural pockets.
Rural healthcare
Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India expressed concern about the ability of the healthcare system in rural India to handle any increase in infections, describing it as “patchy”.
As migrant workers fan out to their villages, some states with an existing heavy burden of cases are facing a second wave of infectionshttps://t.co/Ojjgl0XjjG
— Livemint (@livemint) June 4, 2020
"High levels of co-morbidity, high levels of under-nutrition and a weak health infrastructure, that's just the recipe for high mortality," said Naman Shah, an epidemiologist in an interview.
The over two-month-long lockdown has ruined the livelihoods of millions of migrants, mostly daily wage earners, setting off India’s biggest migration since Independence.
A spurt in rural areas comes when discussions among the medical and scientific community have begun on when India will witness the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
While some scientists speculate that India will hit the peak at around the beginning of July, the World Health Organisation said that COVID-19 cases will start decreasing here in late July.
