New Delhi: India on Saturday reported a record spike in COVID-19 cases for the third straight day. According to the health ministry, more than 14,000 new cases were reported for the first time in the 24 hours before 8 am on Saturday morning, pushing the tally to 3,95,048. The ministry recorded 14,516 new COVID-19 cases, while the death toll rose by 375 to 12,948.
The number of recoveries/discharges currently stands at 2,13,830, while there are 1,68,269 active cases, according to the updated official figures at 8 am. One patient has migrated.
“Thus, around 54.12% of the patients have recovered so far,” an official said. The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.
This was for the ninth consecutive day that India has registered over 10,000 cases.
The country has witnessed a surge of over two lakh infections from June 1 until June 20, with Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh among the top five states that have seen a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.
India has the fourth highest cases of the coronavirus infections, behind the US, Russia and Brazil. More than 8.67 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 459,211 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
Brazil passes 1 million cases, no end in sight
Brazil passed 1 million coronavirus cases on Friday and approached 50,000 deaths, a new nadir for the world’s second worst-hit country as it struggles with a tense political climate and worsening economic outlook.
Second only to the US in both cases and deaths, Brazil confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus on Feb.ruary 26. The virus has spread relentlessly across the continent-sized country, eroding support for right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and raising fears of economic collapse after years of anaemic growth.
Brazil reported 1,032,913 confirmed cases on Friday, with 1,206 new deaths to take total official fatalities to 48,954, the country’s health ministry said. Friday also saw a new record daily number of cases, with 54,771, suggesting the outbreak is far from over. Brazil is likely to surpass 50,000 deaths on Saturday, although weekend reporting can be lower.
Even so, the true extent of the outbreak far exceeds the official figures, according to many experts, who cite a lack of widespread testing.
“That number of 1 million is much less than the real number of people who have been infected, because there is under-reporting of a magnitude of five to 10 times,” said Alexandre Naime Barbosa, a medical professor at the São Paulo State University. “The true number is probably at least 3 million and could even be as high as 10 million people.”
(With agency inputs)