Enlarge image
Taj Mahal in Agra (archive image)
Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
India's most famous attraction, the Taj Mahal, has reopened after a two-month corona break.
In view of the falling number of infections, 650 visitors are expected to visit the Marble Monument and Unesco World Heritage Site every day from Wednesday.
Before the corona crisis, around 25,000 people came every day, said a spokesman for the responsible authority.
The guests always have to wear masks, keep their distance, measure their temperature and have their hands disinfected, and they are not allowed to touch any surfaces.
Tickets must be purchased online.
The monument that a Mughal ruler had built for his favorite wife in the 17th century is also said to be cleaned three times a day.
However, India does not currently issue visas to foreign tourists.
In addition to the Taj Mahal, more than 3,000 other monuments and museums are now allowed to open again.
There are now 60,000 cases per day
After a violent second corona wave in April and May, the registered number of infections per day is falling again significantly.
If on certain days there were more than 400,000 registered corona cases in the country with its more than 1.3 billion inhabitants, there are now a little more than 60,000.
The violent wave is associated, among other things, with the more contagious Delta variant, which was first discovered in India.
In absolute numbers, India is hardest hit by the pandemic, behind the US, with nearly 30 million recorded corona infections.
Around 380,000 people have died in connection with the virus.
The actual numbers are likely to be significantly higher.
The Delta variant is now also raging in Europe.
The situation is so serious that Great Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now even postponed the promised »Day of Freedom«, ie the day on which the measures in Great Britain should actually be lifted, for four weeks.
bam / dpa
