India Covid-19 Infections Near 4 Mn, Closes In On Brazil

Security guards wearing face shields and masks stand outside a train at a Delhi Metro station ahead of the restart of its operations, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease, in New Delhi on September 3, 2020

India reported a daily jump of 83,341 coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 3.94 million, Health Ministry data showed on Friday, as it closes in on Brazil as the world’s second-most affected nation from the virus.

Asia’s worst-hit country is now just around 60,000 cases behind Brazil, which has around 4 million confirmed cases, according to a Reuters tally. The United States is the worst affected nation, with more than 6 million cases.

India has logged the world’s largest daily caseload every day for almost a month, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government pushes to open up the economy to prevent further damage from the pandemic.

Its economy performed worst in the April-June quarter among major economies globally, as the pandemic crippled businesses and forced India’s 1.3 billion people to stay indoors for a majority of the quarter.

However, deaths in India from COVID-19 have remained relatively low. The Ministry said on Friday that 1,096 people died from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 68,472.

Globally, 863,863 have died from the disease, out of a total caseload of 26.15 million.