Second wave spreading much faster in rural India than first
India’s second wave has gained traction in the country’s rural hinterland, where health care infrastructure is weaker than in urban areas, at a much faster rate than it did during the first wave of the outbreak, shows data. By Abhishek Jha
The second wave of Covid-19 in India has gained traction in the country’s vast rural hinterland, where health care infrastructure is weaker than in urban areas, at a much faster rate than it did during the first wave of the outbreak, shows data analysed by HT.
During the first wave, urban areas contributed a majority of new infections in India every month for five months from March 2020 – the first month when India detected a locally transmitted case of the infection – to July 2020, before rural areas started contributing more new cases than urban areas. In the case of the second wave, which started in February, this has taken just two months.
In March, rural areas, where 73% of the country’s population resides, contributed a little over a third (34.3%) of new infections compared to 48.2% contributed by urban areas, where 14% of India’s population lives (the rest came from areas with mixed urban and rural population).
Rapid shift of virus to India’s hinterland
Rural areas in India started contributing more cases than urban areas five months after the first locally transmitted case of the Covid-19 infection was detected in March, 2020. In the ongoing second wave that started in February, this has taken just two months. Here’s how the infection is impacting the urban and rural areas currently. Urban areas have had a greater share than rural areas in new cases of Covid-19 infection in 9 months out of 15 from March, 2020 to May, 2021. The infection began with urban areas reporting 1.6 times the cases in rural areas in March, 2020. This number increased to 3.1, 2.7, and 2.8 in April, May, and June last year, before it started decreasing. Rural areas, had a greater share than urban areas in new cases only from August. This phase lasted until October last year before both areas reported roughly the same number of cases for three months. In February, when the second wave showed signs of beginning, urban areas again took a lead, only for rural areas to emerge as a bigger source of cases two months later in April.