India sees record coronavirus case spike
July 20, 2020
India reported a record 40,425 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, the Health Ministry said. The country also logged 681 deaths.
India is the world's third worst-hit country in the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1.1 million cases and 27,497 fatalities, behind only the US and Brazil.
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The infection rate in India has been rapidly rising since the government began to ease lockdown restrictions in mid-May. The country has logged a million new cases since then. Just one day ago, India reported a then-24-hour record of 38,902 new cases.
New Delhi and Mumbai have become epicenters of the outbreak, though new infections there have been declining in recent days. A number of regions, including the IT hub of Bengaluru and the resort city of Goa, have announced fresh lockdowns and restrictions amid the recent surge in cases.
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The Health Ministry noted that India's COVID-19 fatality rate was "progressively falling," however, due to improved clinical management, containment techniques and testing. At 2.49%, the country's fatality rate is among the lowest in the world.
The country of 1.4 billion has ramped up testing, carrying out nearly 10,000 per million people, compared to just a few hundred in March.
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dr/rc (dpa, AP)