Covid-19 has spread from big cities to country towns with alarming speed
. A few days ago the owner of the clinic where his wife works as a receptionist came down with covid-19. Authorities sealed the building and whisked her off to quarantine, then sent him to a different isolation centre. Stuck now in a hostel, he worries that even if he tests negative, the families whose clothes he irons for a living will be afraid to let him back. They won’t appreciate that he covered for them, lying when asked if he had been visiting houses lately.
With nearly 800,000 confirmed cases so far, India ranks third after America and Brazil in infections. The tally of covid deaths, over 21,000, is relatively modest. It works out at fewer than 15 per million, a quarter of the world average and a fraction of the 651 per million in Britain. But, for reasons ranging from the relatively low level of testing to spotty medical record-keeping to political interference, many experts believe India is undercounting deaths by a third or more.
At Sulerikadu, south of the state capital Chennai, fishermen complain that when lockdown was lifted after eight weeks, a seasonal ban on fishing kept the fleet grounded. This was followed by a closure of the market, so that when they could at last catch fish they had no place to sell it. Nearby farmers voice similar despair. A transport ban at harvest time kept many from selling their crops. Individuals are not the only ones hurt.
In India’s big cities, fears that hospitals would be overwhelmed have for the most part failed to materialise, largely because medical protocols have been revised to keep all but those who are very ill from occupying beds. Hospitals, for example, can now send covid patients home as soon as they feel better, rather than having to wait for test results to prove they are free of the virus. One district of Delhi requisitioned more than 900 hotel rooms for use as isolation wards.
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