Fears grow in India of untraceable coronavirus carriers

Despite nationwide lockdown, New Delhi struggles to keep tabs on population

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Men wearing masks sit on a bus in the Nizamuddin district of New Delhi that will take them to a quarantine facility on March 31, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. © Reuters

KIRAN SHARMA, Nikkei staff writer

NEW DELHI -- India is struggling to contain the spike in new coronavirus cases despite imposing a nationwide 21-day lockdown last week. Fears of an uncontrollable outbreak are growing, as many potential carriers of the virus are untraceable.

Authorities across India are scrambling to locate, test and isolate hundreds of people who spread across the country after attending a religious gathering at a mosque in the capital that has become a hot spot for the virus. The mosque outbreak parallels one that centered on a church in the South Korean city of Daegu in February.

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