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India Resumes Limited Domestic Flights Even as COVID Cases Surge

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - Airline crews donned body protective suits and passengers
   arrived with masks as India resumed limited domestic flights on Monday
   after two months amid a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions.
   The resumption of air services was accompanied with chaos and confusion
   as many passengers arrived at airports only to find that scores of
   flights had been cancelled after some of the worst affected states such
   as Maharashtra decided to limit air traffic into hotspots such as
   Mumbai.
   The country threw open its skies even as it became the world's 10th
   most affected nation after witnessing a record surge of coronavirus
   cases on Sunday to surpass Iran in the total number of infections.
   "With the opening of the economy the infection rates are going to
   rise," says Rajmohan Panda, a health expert at the Public Health
   Foundation of India. "But one should not look at the sheer numbers. We
   have to worry but there is no need to panic. The lockdown gave India
   time to fight the pandemic."
   India had halted all domestic and international flights in late March
   as it sought to stop the spread of coronavirus with the world's largest
   lockdown. But faced with the uphill task of reviving an economy
   battered by the pandemic, it is gradually opening up travel and
   allowing businesses to restart.

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