India Reports 52,972 New Coronavirus Infections

A worker wearing a protective face mask checks the temperature of a traveller at Dadar railway station, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease in Mumbai on July 31, 2020

India reported 52,972 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1.8 million, data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed on Monday.

With 771 new deaths, the COVID-19 disease has now claimed 38,135 lives in the world’s second-most populous country.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah has been admitted to hospital after contracting the coronavirus, he said on Sunday, becoming the most senior politician in the country to test positive for the disease.

Shah, a close aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, heads a ministry that has been at the forefront of managing the epidemic.

India’s coronavirus outbreak is the third worst in the world behind the United states and Brazil, with nearly 1.7 million confirmed cases and 36,500 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

“I request all of you who came in contact with me in the last few days to isolate yourselves and get tested,” Shah said in a tweet.

Shah, 55, said he had got himself tested after exhibiting initial symptoms of COVID-19. “My health is fine but I am being hospitalised on the advice of doctors,” he added.

A Home Ministry spokesman said he was unable to immediately comment on when Shah had last met with Modi.

Indian movie star Amitabh Bachchan, who was hospitalised on July 11 after being diagnosed with COVID-19, was discharged after his latest coronavirus test came back negative, his son Abhishek Bachchan tweeted on Sunday.