Crowds return to malls and rail stations: Delhi defies social distancing

New Delhi: On Tuesday, thousands of people crowded into underground train stations and shopping malls in Delhi, urging some doctors to warn of the resurgence of Covid-19 infections. Many major Indian cities have started lifting strict lockdowns, as the nationwide tally of new infections has fallen to its lowest level in more than two months.

A warning has been given by the disease experts and doctors, that reopening business as usual would bring down the vaccination efforts, as only 5% of 950 million eligible adults have been vaccinated.

According to the doctors, Delhi’s near-complete re-opening should be taken into consideration, as the city’s authorities have said they would reimpose strict restraints if cases rise.

In May, thousands of people died in the capital, due to a lack of oxygen supply and scarce of hospital beds. People paid 20 times the normal price to acquire ambulances and hearses, but many died in parking lots and morgues.

Ambrish Mithal of Max HealthCare in New Delhi said on Twitter, ‘Delhi’s top #mall saw a footfall of 19,000 people last weekend- as soon as it reopened. Have we gone totally mad? (sic) . Wait for #COVID19 to explode again- and blame the government, hospitals, country.’

On Tuesday, Delhi’s underground rail network put out warnings on Twitter about peak traffic and longer waits, replying to angry passengers about long queues.

Following a strict five-week lockdown in Delhi, the government have fully re-opened shops and malls and allowed restaurants to have 50% seating. Suburban rail networks can work at 50% capacity, and offices have been partially reopened.

However, the city government said that vaccination centers for people ages 18-44 will be closed on Tuesday, as doses were scarce.

Arvinder Singh Soin, a surgeon and leading liver transplant specialist, said on Twitter, ‘Delhi ought to have unlocked far more scientifically. We are inviting trouble!’

Over the past 24 hours, India has reported 60,471 new Covid-19 infections, the lowest number since March 31. The country’s total Covid-19 caseload now reaches 29.57 million, the second-highest globally behind the United States. 2,726 deaths were reported in India, overnight, taking the overall tally to 377,031.