India getting back on track

TRAIN SERVICE: REOPENS AFTER SIX-MONTH HIATUS

Country overtakes Brazil to become second-worst affected by Covid-19.

India restarted city metro services yesterday after a nearly six-month hiatus as the vast nation overtook Brazil to become the second-worst affected country in terms of coronavirus cases, behind only the United States.

Despite warnings that it could eventually overtake the US, India has been steadily reopening its pandemic-battered economy.

Masked commuters sat in mostly empty coaches and flashed victory signs to journalists early yesterday at metro stations in the capital New Delhi – one of the most badly hit cities along with financial hub Mumbai.

Passengers can only sit on alternate seats and after undergoing thermal screening.

“There was no problems commuting in the metro. Social distancing is being followed and people are using masks and sanitising,” passenger Deepak Kumar, who took the subway to work in Delhi, said.

“For our lives to move on, we have to get out of our homes ... so this is a good move by the government to start the metro trains.”

The resumption of metro services came as the South Asian nation recorded 4.2 million infections since the pandemic began, health ministry data showed.

It surpassed Brazil’s total, making it the second-highest tally behind the United States’ 6.25 million.

India has also recorded 71 642 deaths, fewer than the 126 203 in Brazil and 188 540 in the US.

Many experts, however, say it is not testing enough people and not properly recording many deaths, meaning the real numbers may be much higher.

Since August, the country of 1.3 billion people, home to some of the world’s most densely populated cities, has been reporting the highest single-day rises in the world.

Yesterday, it reported an increase of more than 90 000 cases.

Its caseload had moved past four million on Saturday, only 13 days after hitting three million. – AFP