Virus restrictions loosen in India

▶ Locals throng malls and markets after COVID- 19 surge

A few weeks ago, New Delhi’s crematoriums were operating around the clock dealing with COVID- 19 victims. Now the Indian capital’s shopping malls and markets are buzzing again.

Clutching a bag of clothes as she shopped with her new husband at Delhi’s busy Select City Walk mall, Surili Gupta said she was “fed up being cooped up inside.”

“I needed this break, for how long you can remain locked up?” the 26- year- old sales executive told AFP as she waited for a table at the mall’s packed food hall.

“The coronavirus is not going any time soon, so one has to learn to live with it. I am sure with the vaccinations and all, we will be fine.”

Behind her, a big weekend crowd chatted and laughed over Indian dosas and Chinese noodles, paying scant regard to public announcements reminding them about social distancing and wearing masks.

A couple queueing at a popular burger joint squabbled, masks hanging from their faces.

Mall staff performed perfunctory temperature checks and reminded people to sanitize their hands.

Not far away, shoppers thronged the open- air warren of shops and stalls at Lajpat Nagar market, bargaining for scarves, bangles and cheap cosmetics.

There was lively trade for food vendors, who sold kulcheychholey – flatbread served with spicy chickpeas – and other favorites to punters, masks dangling as they ate.

“I would not have come today but it was very urgent,” Prerna Jain, 21, a college student who had come with her mother, told AFP.

“My cousin is getting married and I needed to buy some stuff. I know it’s not yet safe but what can I do? This [ event] is equally important.”

Delhi, a megacity of 20 million people, saw horrendous scenes in April and May when coronavirus cases went through the roof.

Crematoriums ran out of space, burning bodies day and night, as gasping patients died outside hospitals, unable to get beds, oxygen and drugs.

India’s death toll more than doubled to more than 330,000, according to official figures. Now, the surge is over and Indian authorities are loosening lockdowns.

On some days in Delhi now, there are no funerals for COVID- 19 victims, down from 700 a day during the recent peak.

“The coronavirus is not going any time soon, so one has to learn to live with it. I am sure with vaccinations and all, we will be fine.” Surili Gupta Sales Executive