'It's getting worse by the day': India's Covid battle rages on

As virus begins to spread through country's rural areas, true cost of pandemic is just becoming apparent

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The first official cases of coronavirus arrived at Niramaya hospital in Mumbai in early May, but they did not come as much of a surprise to Dr Amit Thadhani.

Thadhani, the hospital director, had suspected for weeks that the virus was being virulently transmitted in India's financial capital, home to 20 million people, due to a steady stream of patients with unseasonable viral symptoms. But strict testing restrictions - and a vehement government denial of community transmission - meant he had no way to prove or prevent it.