COVID-19: Taj Mahal reopens even as India coronavirus cases soar

The Taj Mahal reopened to visitors on Monday in a symbolic business-as-usual gesture even as India looks set to overtake the US as the global leader in coronavirus infections. India, home to 1.3 billion people and some of the world's most crowded cities, has recorded more than 5.4 million Covid-19 cases. Around 100,000 new infections and over 1,000 deaths are reported daily.

But after a strict lockdown in March that devastated the livelihoods of tens of millions of people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reluctant to copy some other nations and tighten the screw on activity again. Instead in recent months his government has eased more and more restrictions including on many train routes, domestic flights, markets, restaurants - and now, visiting the Taj Mahal.

The world-famous white-marble mausoleum in Agra south of New Delhi is India's most popular tourist site. It usually draws seven million visitors a year, but has been closed since March. Officials said strict social distancing rules were in place and daily visitor numbers capped at 5,000 - a quarter the normal rate. Tickets can only be bought online. | Above: Workers clean the ground at the Taj Mahal in Agra on September 21, 2020.

"So many people lost their job during the lockdown. People have suffered a lot and it is time the country opens up fully," said bank official Ayub Sheikh, 35, visiting the Taj with his wife and baby daughter. "We are not afraid of the virus. If it has to infect us, it will," Sheikh told AFP. "Not many people are dying now. I don't think it is going to go away soon. We have to get used to it now." | Above: The sun rises behind the Taj Mahal in Agra on September 21, 2020.

Elsewhere, particularly in rural areas where infections are soaring, anecdotal evidence suggests that government guidelines on avoiding the virus are more often ignored than adhered to. "I think, not just in India but all over the world, fatigue with extreme measures that were taken to restrict the growth of the coronavirus is setting in," said Gautam Menon, professor of physics and biology at Ashoka University, predicting that infections will keep rising as a result.

Foreign tourists take a selfie in front of the Taj Mahal after it reopened for the public as part of Unlock 4, in Agra on Monday.

Temperature checks are a must at the Taj Mahal.

A man cleans the rooftop restaurant of the hotel viewing the Taj Mahal as the monument is ready for tourists after lockdown, in Agra on Monday.

Visitors head to the Taj Mahal in Agra

A security personnel patrols at the Taj Mahal in Agra on September 21, 2020.

Visitors at the Taj Mahal.

A tourist uses his mobile phone as the sunrises behind the Taj Mahal in Agra on September 21, 2020.