AP Explains: How India's fast-growing cases topped 3 million

AP Explains: How India's fast-growing cases topped 3 million

SeattlePI.com

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NEW DELHI (AP) — India's coronavirus caseload topped 3 million on Sunday, with the country leading the world in new infections as the disease marched through impoverished rural areas in the north and the wealthier but older populations of the south.

How the virus is spreading in the world's second most-populous country:

SATURATED CITIES

India's first cases were reported in the southern state of Kerala in late January. They were three university students who had been studying in the disease epicenter of Wuhan, China. But community transmission took hold in cities thousands of miles (kilometers) to the north, with the financial center of Mumbai reporting huge spikes in late spring followed by New Delhi, the capital, in early summer.

The rise in new infections has since leveled off in India's two largest cities, with serological surveys showing widespread prevalence among populations.

In New Delhi, a recent government study of 15,000 volunteers showed 29% had antibodies for the coronavirus, although the city of 11 million has only 150,000 confirmed cases, suggesting many undetected infections.

Dr. Ullas Kolthur Seetharam, a biologist in Mumbai, conducted a survey across the city of 12.4 million in July that found more than half of the the people tested in slums had antibodies compared to 16% of those tested in organized residential neighborhoods.

The survey suggested that shared toilets, high population density and lack of physical distancing contributed to the spread.

“Any change in the demography will change the prevalence of the virus,” Seetharam said.

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GEOGRAPHICAL DIVIDE

India's meager health resources are poorly divided across the country. Government data shows wide disparity in health indices, with India's poorest states comparable to sub-Saharan...

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