As Hyderabad opened up on Monday, crowds surfaced outside railway stations, and some temples even began selling the famed Tirupati laddus through regular counters.
But the mood was one of nervousness. For at least a month now, Hyderabad has been the only major Indian city where the daily testing capacity for suspected covid-19 cases has remained almost static (in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the capacity rose two-three times between April and May).
Doctors have critiqued the official policy of low testing; the high court has intervened. But nothing has effectively changed.
And as India unlocks, Hyderabad will be the only major city to attempt a reopening without a massive ramp-up in daily tests, which can potentially catch disease