Peak holiday season set to send Covid- 19 cases surging

Cash- short governments reluctant to stop people from venturing out

Already on track to overtake the United States with the world’s most novel coronavirus infections, India is bracing for a surge of cases in coming weeks as it heads into its main holiday season with an economy freed of virus restrictions.

The recent experience of the southern state of Kerala, which was praised for its initial handling of the pandemic, indicates how rapidly the situation can worsen. Reported infections there have jumped by five times since it celebrated the 10day harvest festival of Onam in late August, far outpacing the two- fold increase in cases nationally over that time.

Still, cash- short state governments are reluctant to stop people from venturing out during the money- spinning Hindu festivals of Durga Puja, next week, and Diwali in mid- November.

The holidays are celebrated with family gatherings, bumper buying and the giving of gifts, from sweets and snacks to clothes and cars, generating vital income for many people.

Small earnings

“We will probably have more deaths out of starvation if the rural migratory population who flock to cities during the pujas and earn some money during the festivity are deprived of the opportunity,” said Subrata Mukherjee, a cabinet minister in the fourth- most populous state of West Bengal, which has high coronavirus caseloads.

“With sowing and transplanting operations of paddy being over, a large rural population is out of any economic activity now. Similarly, thousands of small traders are looking forward to some earnings.” West Bengal, where the ruling party is expected to face a tough challenge in an election next year from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, has allowed 42 per cent more community Durga Puja gatherings this year and doubled state financing for them.