India Coronavirus Dispatch: Are non-metro regions ready to deal with virus?

Ludhiana hospital refuses new patients citing staff dharna, Covid impact on child immunisation, Chhattisgarh farmers return to fields--news on how India is coping with the pandemic

Out of metros, into the rest of India: Covid-19 is now surging in the non-metro parts of India and has exposed a major weakness: the lack of public health infrastructure. In Kalyan-Dombivali, a satellite town 40 km from Mumbai, the local hospital has only one ventilator which it received 15 years ago in the aftermath of heavy flooding. It isn't just the low number of critical equipment that’s hurting the local battle against the pandemic. A low number of specialists trained to handle such crises is also pinching. With public healthcare in bad shape, most residents are left with only