In Pictures

In Pictures: Migrants return to Delhi as COVID-19 deaths soar

Migrants start to return to work months after tens of thousands of workers fled cities during the coronavirus lockdown.

Migrant workers, who returned to Delhi from their native state, wait for their rapid antigen test report, at a bus terminal, amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New Delhi, India, Aug — Hundreds of migrant workers from the countryside who had left New Delhi in droves after losing their jobs in a nationwide lockdown in March returned in buses on Monday. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

India’s COVID-19 deaths topped 50,000 on Monday, five months after the country reported its first, as migrant workers poured back into major cities in hopes of finding work after the easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Hundreds of migrant workers from the countryside who had left the capital, New Delhi, in droves after losing their jobs in a nationwide lockdown in March returned in buses on Monday and were made to wait in lines for rapid COVID-19 tests.

Those who tested positive were sent to quarantine centres while the rest were allowed to leave the city’s busy inter-state bus terminus with their luggage. Almost all of them wore masks or covered their nose and mouth with scarves or handkerchiefs, though in the countryside such virus-fighting measures have become tough to enforce and the infection rate has surged.

The world’s second-most populous country recorded 57,981 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, lifting the total to 2.65 million, while an additional 941 deaths raised the overall death toll to 50,921.

India is only the third country, behind Brazil and the United States, to record more than two million infections, but it has a relatively low case death rate of 1.9 percent, compared with the world average of 3.5 percent.

India conducted more than 730,000 tests for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the state-run Indian Council for Medical Research said.

The government’s stated goal is to run one million tests a day, though experts say the rate is still too low for a sprawling country of 1.3 billion people. Fears are also rising about India’s heavy reliance on rapid antigen tests that have a high rate of false negatives.

India has been recording at least 50,000 new infections a day since July 30 as the disease has spread from major cities like Mumbai and Delhi into the impoverished hinterlands of densely populated states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Migrant workers, who returned to Delhi from their native state arrive for a rapid antigen test, at a bus terminal, amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in New Delhi, India, August 17, 20 — Migrant workers, who returned to New Delhi from their native states, arrive for a rapid antigen test at a bus terminal. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) takes a swab from a migrant worker, who returned to Delhi from his native state, for a rapid antigen test at a bus terminal, amidst the — A healthcare worker takes a swab from a migrant worker who returned to New Delhi. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

A health worker and relatives wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry the body of a man, who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), for his cremation, at a crematorium in New Delhi, — A health worker and relatives carry the body of a man who died due to the coronavirus disease in New Delhi. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]

Relatives wearing protective face masks lower the body of a woman, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during her funeral at a graveyard in New Delhi, India, August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Adn — India's COVID-19 deaths topped 50,000 on Monday, five months after the country reported its first coronavirus death. [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]