In the village, 1/4 of the people are infected with nCoV 3
In Rajewadi, a small sugarcane growing village with about 360 people in Maharashtra state, western India, authorities only conducted widespread testing after an elderly person was found dead from Covid-19 on August 17.
According to both officials, police and residents, days before his death, the patient and about 30 other people gathered to pray before a local deity.
Most of these people are positive for nCoV.
Medical staff took samples to test for nCoV at the bus station, from a migrant worker returning to work in New Delhi on August 17.
The village is currently fenced with bamboo and wood, with a sign describing it as a restricted area.
`A perception has been created that nCoV is just an exaggeration, that it is not that serious,` Bhosale said.
The outbreak of infections is in small villages and towns, where mask-wearing and social distancing have all but disappeared, and community gatherings have returned.
Based on current trends, India will surpass Brazil to become the second largest epidemic area in the world after the US in just a few days.
The World Health Organization says India’s relatively low death rate could rise as the virus spreads across the vast countryside, where medical facilities are only at their most basic.
Relatives buried a woman who died of Covid-19 at a cemetery in New Delhi, India, on August 17.
Testing is being ramped up in rural India, where 60% of the country’s 1.35 billion people live.
In Satara state, the number of cases doubled from August 6 to 23, a period when India recorded 1 million new infections, the fastest increase in the world.
Officials warn the situation will get worse before it gets better.
`In April and May, people followed all the rules but now the mentality has changed. They have become normal and take nCoV lightly,` said Dr. Subhash Chavan in Satara.
Satara currently conducts more than 2,000 tests/day, an increase of 10 times compared to a few weeks ago.
Because India’s rural health infrastructure is weak, the focus is on testing so patients can be quarantined sooner at home, reserving scarce hospital beds for the most critical cases, officials said.
Fearing the worst economic recession in history, India is gradually easing restrictions, despite rising infections.
`We have to consider the economic perspective when responding to the pandemic,` said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Finance and Health Minister of Assam.
Anh Ngoc (According to Reuters)
