India Has The 7th Most COVID-19 Cases In The World As Government Eases Curbs

On Monday, with the number of COVID-19 cases in India crossing the 190,000 mark, the health ministry said that the country overtook France to become the 7th-highest globally. The news comes after the Indian government eased most curbs following a 2-month nationwide lockdown.

According to live updates on the pandemic, India now registers 198,370 positive cases, just lower than the US, Brazil, Russia, Spain, and the UK.

Recently, criticism has grown as the sudden nationwide lockdown on 1.3 billion people in the country, announced by PM Modi, failed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Worse, the lockdown has been destroying many people’s lives especially migrant workers and those living on daily wages.

Community transmission has started among people and the resumption of public transport across the country will likely worsen the situation.

On Monday, 200 trains across India were packed with people, mostly migrant workers leaving metropolises for home, as their operation has been resumed. The Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and Social Medicine, the Indian Public Health Association, and the Indian Association of Epidemiologists said:

“Had the migrant persons been allowed to go home at the beginning of the epidemic when the disease spread was very low, the current situation could have been avoided.”

Meanwhile, the death toll due to COVID-19 has passed 5,300, which is still much lower than other countries that have similar tallies. The government attributes this to the lockdown, which helped prevent a rapid increase in the number of cases.

However, there remain concerns that if the coronavirus infects more people, especially in Mumbai and Delhi, India’s healthcare system would fail.

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