Coronavirus: in India, strong progression of the disease, especially in the countryside

Covid-19 epidemic in India: cleaning of an ambulance in the Ganges river, July 2020 (illustration). REUTERS / Danish Siddiqui

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India recorded the largest daily increase in coronavirus cases in the world yesterday, Friday, August 14. If the largest cities manage to better manage the pandemic, it is now the countryside, under equipped with beds and doctors, which worries specialists. 

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with our correspondent in Bangalore, Côme Bastin

Faced with the explosion of the pandemic, the Bangalore exhibition center had been transformed into a gigantic anti-Covid center. But by the authorities' own admission, it has never been completed. Like Delhi or Bombay, the large city of the South is gradually containing the epidemic.

Director of a neighborhood hospital, Dr. Stephen Anthony testifies. “  We turn a lot of patients away because most just need to be quarantined. Our hospital is now able to manage Covid-19. In Bangalore today there are enough beds. And for the poorest patients, the government covers part of the medical expenses.  " 

A month ago, half of the new daily cases detected in the state of Karnataka came from its capital Bangalore. Yesterday, three quarters of the reported cases came from villages and medium-sized towns.

Also read : More than two million reported cases of coronavirus in India

In the countryside the numbers could be higher

According to Rijo John, health economist and consultant to the WHO, this phenomenon affects all of India. “  The biggest cities were the first to be overtaken by the pandemic. But today, it is the Indian countryside that is seeing the virus grow the fastest. In addition, rural areas fail to do enough testing, so the numbers there could be much higher.  "

👉Top 50 districts in India for the total reported number of # COVID19 cases.
👉58% of cases & 72% of deaths now come from these districts.
👉The virus has indeed spread far & wide (7 / n) pic.twitter.com/iepFplVO7H

  Rijo M John, PhD (@RijoMJohn) August 15, 2020

India recorded 67,000 new cases yesterday Friday, more than the United States or Brazil. The deployment of medical resources in the villages will be the big challenge in the months to come. 

► To read also : In Brazil, Bolsonaro camps on its positions despite the milestone of 100,000 dead

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  • India
  • Coronavirus
  • Health and medicine