India overtakes China in number of coronavirus cases, as 23 migrant workers killed in crash
- India has reported over 85,000 Covid-19 infections, surpassing China’s number of cases, as officials say a strict lockdown has reduced the spread
- The seven-week lockdown has affected hundreds of millions of migrant workers, with 23 killed in a crash in Uttar Pradesh while heading home
So far the death rate in India appears far better, according to health ministry data, with 2,752 fatalities reported, compared with China’s 4,600. The toll in the United States, United Kingdom and Italy is much higher.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan was also encouraged by the slowing rate of infection, as it now takes 11 days for the number of cases to double, whereas before the lockdown cases were doubling every three and a half days.
“Clearly the situation has improved due to lockdown. We have utilised this period of lockdown to accelerate public health measures such as case detection, contact tracing, isolation and management of cases,” Vardhan said.
Indian officials say the low death rate could be because a majority of people infected with the virus were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms and that the vast shutdown imposed early on had helped avoid a major catastrophe.
A third of the infections are from the western state of Maharashtra, with Mumbai the worst hit, followed by Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi.
These are also the most important economic centres of the country, complicating the government’s task as it tries to reopen without triggering a big spurt in infections.
“India is still in the growth phase, since total cases are still rising. Active cases are growing at 3.8 per cent [daily] – and this needs to fall to zero per cent and decline subsequently for the country to recover overall,” Shamika Ravi, a Brookings expert and former member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said.
One area of concern has been India’s low testing in relation to its large population, public health officials say.
The country has ramped up testing since the beginning of April to 100,000 this week, but with 1.3 billion people on a per capita basis it is trailing far behind other major countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy.
Early on Saturday, a truck crammed with migrant labourers trying to reach their distant homes crashed in northern India on Saturday, killing at least 23 and injuring 35.
The accident occurred before daybreak, when the truck collided with another truck that was parked by a roadside eatery in the Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh state, Abhishek Singh Meena, the top district official said.
“The rescue operation is almost complete and 23 people have been killed in the accident,” Singh said, adding that 20 people had suffered serious injuries, while the rest had minor wounds.
The migrants mainly hailed from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
India’s nearly seven-week lockdown has sparked a crisis for the hundreds of millions that rely on daily wages to survive.
With no work – and little public transport – many urban migrants attempting to return to their home villages have set out on gruelling journeys on foot, or hitching rides in the back of trucks.
On May 13, six migrants walking to their homes in Bihar were crushed to death by a speeding truck in Muzaffarnagar, also in Uttar Pradesh. Three others sustained serious injuries. The driver was arrested.
On Friday, UP’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered bureaucrats and police officers across the state to arrange buses and taxi cabs to ferry migrants back to their hometowns. No one should walk, cycle or travel by trucks, he said.
Indian state and federal governments have provided additional funds to feed and house migrants, as well as some special buses and trains.
