Travel news reveals that coronavirus is spreading faster in India than in any other country causing fresh concern for experts who worry about the subsequent threat to the rest of the world.
India has been reporting an average of 150,000 new cases daily over the past week. On Tuesday, the country reported nearly 162,000 new infections just slightly lower than the all-time high of 168,912 cases from a day earlier. In total the number of cases in the country is almost nearly 13.6 million.
Experts Concerned About COVID in India
Experts see the surge of infections in India as a threat to the rest of the globe due to a lack of international travel restrictions.
Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy told CBS News, “The high infection rate in India is worrying both because it indicates that in the absence of movement restrictions, and with significant vaccination, the virus continues to pose a serious threat.”
“But because of India’s size, it is unlikely that the world would be done with Covid unless we are able to stop the epidemic here.”
India Has a Great Disease Burden
India is second to the U.S. in number of cases and Brazil is at number three with 13.4 million cases.
The U.S. and Brazil averaged 70,000 new cases daily for the past week and in a worrying sign, India’s rate is now twice that. More than 171,000 people in India have died from the virus, nearly 900 of them on Monday alone.
K. Srinath Reddy is president of the Public Health Foundation of India and is also concerned about India’s contact with the rest of the world. He says that without significant travel restrictions, the virus surge seen in India will duplicate in other countries.
“We know how the British, Brazilian and other variants of the virus reached other countries… so international travel is of great concern,” Reddy said.
What Is India Doing to Halt COVID?
Epidemiologist Lalit Kant, is the former head of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research, and he also worries about the COVID-19 surge in India, which he predicts can have a “ripple” effect globally.
Despite India banning gatherings and imposing fines on violations of precautionary measures such as the use of masks and social distancing, the surge continues. More than half of India’s 29 states have imposed night curfews or enforced weekend lockdowns in parts or across the state.
Like many other cities, New Delhi has closed schools, restricted weddings and funerals, and reduced the number of people allowed in buses, trains, restaurants and cinemas.
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