India has reported more than 400,000 new coronavirus infections for the fourth consecutive day. The number of confirmed infections rose by 403,738 to 22.3 million within 24 hours, the health ministry said today. The country has a population of 1.36 billion.
Globally, that’s the second-highest figure after the U.S. (population 330 million). Experts fear, however, a much higher number of unreported cases.
Only on Friday, a peak of more than 414,000 new infections had been recorded. The number of deaths in connection with the virus increased by 4,092 to 242,362. However, the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher: In many places, it is difficult to even get tested. Especially in rural areas, many victims die at home and do not always show up in the statistics.
System overloaded
The health system and crematoria are at their limits, and hospitals lack medical oxygen. Carelessness, large religious festivals and election rallies, and the appearance of viral mutations in recent weeks are blamed for the rapid spread. Several states have since imposed lockdowns. The opposition called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impose nationwide restrictions.
Meanwhile, more than 40 countries have delivered aid to India. Meanwhile, in Porto, the EU and India agreed on new talks on a free trade agreement – also to exploit “untapped potential” for recovery from the pandemic.
- source: orf.at/picture: rte.ie
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