Migration of People from urban to rural area is responsible for spread of COVID 19 in Rural Area?
In South Africa, this may have been true during the Level 5 (most restrictions) but now at Level 3 (medium restrictions) the rural to urban commuter traffic has increased significantly. (I live on the arterial road through a big rural node, hence what I am reflecting is what I am observing rather than measuring).
On a related note, Covid-19 is responsible for many urban - rural migration, such as in Peru currently: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2020/07/08/Peru-internal-migration-coronavirus?utm_source=The+New+Humanitarian&utm_campaign=006d561fd5-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_ENGLISH_AMERICAS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d842d98289-006d561fd5-75517825
This (Friday) morning in 15 minutes 25 Cape Town registered rural - urban commuter vehicles (Toyota Quantums + loaded trailer) passed my property, heading north to the deep rural communities. No social distancing was being practiced.
No doubt about that. We have already seen thousand-mile journey during lockdown in India.
Subhash Chavare Ji off course this could be one of the reason and in India and with time we can see more no of cases with a faster rate.
Poster Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Covid-19 Disaster in ...
The reverse migration of workers from urban to rural areas accentuated the spread of COVID-19 in multiple layers starting from the source of urban area, while travelling and coming into contact with several others and in their destination rural spots. Recently, a DM in West Bengal died of COVID-19 who was in charge of managing the workers reaching West Bengal in Shramik Special trains (see https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/bengal-covid-19-caseload-up-to-31448-senior-district-official-among-24-dead-6504561/ ). The fact is that rural areas lack infrastructure and hence is not so capable either to detect or treat the disease. The disease might be spreading in rural areas too but silently.
Two policy misconduct are noticeable among many:
First, despite suggestion by noted academicians to transfer sufficient money through DBT which could have restricted or frictionalized migration, however, even if few state government transferred money but it was not sufficient to lessen the burden of uncertainty and workers' toil.
Second, announcement of new rural jobs through MGNREGA had oiled the reverse migration from urban to rural region.
This was mostly consequences of unplanned lockdown.
Now coming to unlock process, once again migration is taking place from rural to urban region as factories and industries are opening up in the cities. This will once again add to the burden disease in the urban areas which is evident from various reports. Workers who migrated in the unlock phase, now, once again migrating back to rural region due sudden lockdown in various pockets of urban cities by the local or state government. I think this process of migration will go on leading to different phases of spread and attack of the disease. Local, State and the Central Government are lacking cooperation among themselves in terms of lock down, unlock, and labour movement.
Additional Reference:
Poster Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Covid-19 Disaster in ...
Yes, return of migrants from urban areas causes spread of COVID-19 in rural India.
At Level 2 the through traffic in Graaff-Reinet is certainly at a pre-Covid rate. There is definitely less of an observance of face masks, now about 50/50.
At level 1 the rate of through traffic between Metropolitan Cape Town and the deep rural areas at same levels as preCovid-19.