Pandemic Becoming a Crisis in Rural India

An Indian relative comforts a patient as she receives supplemental oxygen during treatment for the coronavirus at the Kapil Government Hospital, which became a coronavirus consultation and treatment facility serving villages in the Jaipur and Sikar districts, on May 15, 2021 in Neem Ka Thana, Sikar District, Rajasthan, India. Rebecca Conway/Getty Images

NEW DELHI—While international attention has been focused on the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India’s major cities, the situation in the vast countryside is becoming worrisome. Those fighting the pandemic point to poverty, a lack of awareness, and fear as complicating factors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned in a speech on May 14 that the pandemic is rapidly spreading to rural India and urged citizens to take precautions.