A decline in daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 has prompted speculation that India's second wave of infections may have crossed its peak, but some public health experts warn a new horror story may be unfolding as the virus makes deep inroads into the country's rural areas.
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The presence of corpses of suspected Covid-19 patients in the Ganga in northern India has triggered fears of contaminated water, but medical experts say people are far likelier to get infected from respiratory droplets and close contact than river water.
Scientists say that while the disposal of Covid-19 patients’ bodies into rivers could release viral particles into the water, there is no evidence for Covid-19 transmission through water or food.
Local authorities have over the past week plucked hundreds of bodies of suspected Covid-19 patients out of the river in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Many believe the dead were released into rivers because their families were unable to access or afford the increasingly scarce and costly crematory space and firewood.