Covid-19: India crosses one-million mark, third-highest in the world

India on Friday became the world's third-largest country with Covid-19 cases, along with the USA and Brazil. These three are the only countries to have crossed the million mark.

The redeeming aspects of India's virus spread are that the active cases are one-third of the total number due to a better recovery rate as well as a low death rate. However, the increasing number of deaths (25,602) has put the country at the eighth spot in the world.

According to a BBC, most of the cases are reported in Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. However, the epidemic is spreading in rural areas across the country as the villages do not have proper health infrastructure.

“The acceleration in cases remains the main challenge for India in the coming days,” said an SCMP report quoting Harvard Global Health Institute director Dr Ashish Jha.

Lockdowns are being re-imposed in cities and states across India. Dr Anant Bhan, a global health researcher, said India could see “a series of peaks” due to rising infections in villages. Educational institutions remain shut since March. They may not open again soon, putting a question mark on the fate of around 278 million students.

Over 100 million have become jobless. The Indian economy is estimated to have a 9.5 pc dip in its GDP in the current financial year. This is in sharp contrast to its performance a decade ago. India then was among the most attractive business hub in the world, said a Straits Times report.

Highlighting the widening gap between the rich and poor, a CNN report said over 270 million got rid of poverty during 2006-2016 in India. However, it has the highest inequality in the world, as 10 pc of its population controls 77 pc of the nation’s wealth. The rift continues to grow in the backdrop of the pandemic, said Oxfam.

“Nine out of ten people are in informal work and it's not that we don't see them," said Harsh Mander, a human rights activist. "They're everywhere and yet we never look at them as human beings, we look at them as labour that is available at cheap and affordable prices to make our lives comfortable."

The upper and middle-class Indians, who are dependent on cooks, maids, gardeners and drivers, are now cooking food, cleaning utensils and houses, said the CNN report.

"Our reliance is huge, every household, even a middle-class household, has a maid coming to clean utensils, or to wash clothes, every single day of the year," said Observer Research Foundation, Mumbai senior fellow Sayli Udas-Mankikar. "You can ask any Indian today and they will say I'm struggling with housework because you have never done that."

In such a hard time, they are now realising the importance of these workers, whom they have always taken for granted.

"I've started to realise and appreciate the privilege I have compared to others more. Especially when my area (in Delhi) was in a containment zone and I only had access to basic things like fruits and vegetables, in addition to other essentials," said Ankita Dasgupta, who is PR official in a music company in Mumbai.