India overtakes Brazil as country second-worst hit by COVID-19
07 September, 2020
India overtook Brazil on Monday (Sep 7) to become the second-worst damaged country in terms of coronavirus cases behind the United States, according to an AFP tally.
The South Asian nation has recorded 4.2 million infections since the pandemic began, health ministry data showed, compared with 4.12 million in Brazil and 6.25 million in america.
India in addition has recorded 71,642 deaths, less than the 126,203 in Brazil and 188,540 in america.
Many experts, however, say it is not testing enough people rather than properly recording many deaths, meaning the true numbers may be higher.
Since August the country of 1 1.3 billion people, home for some of the world's most densely populated cities, has been reporting the best single-day rises on the globe. On Monday it reported a rise greater than 90,000 cases.
Its caseload moved past 4 million on Saturday, only 13 days after hitting three million.
Virologist Shahid Jameel, who heads the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance, said the main element factor to watch is the growth rate in infections, which he called "quite alarming".
"Over the past two weeks, the ... average has moved from about 65,000 cases each day to about 83,000 cases each day, that is in regards to a 27 % increase over two weeks or about 2 per cent each day," Jameel told AFP.
India has been testing a lot more than 10 million people per day typically, with plans to ramp it up further.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, the scientific agency leading the government's response, on Friday revised the testing criteria, allowing one to undergo a test without a doctor's letter.
Jameel said the move was overdue.
"This will uncover more asymptomatic people, who are the real way to obtain this expansion in India. There should also be more testing in rural districts and villages, since over two-thirds of the cases are via there," he said.
Despite warnings that it might eventually overtake the US to be the world's most-infected country, India has been steadily reopening its pandemic-battered economy.
Economic output contracted a historic 23.9 per cent between April and June.
On Monday, metro trains in major cities, like the capital New Delhi - probably the most badly hit cities along with financial hub Mumbai - reopened after a hiatus of nearly six months.
Early morning images showed masked commuters sitting in almost empty coaches and flashing victory signs to journalists.
Passengers can only sit on alternate seats, and after undergoing thermal screening.
Delhi, a city teeming with 20 million people, recorded 3,256 new infections on Sunday - its highest day spike in 73 days. It had been also the 1st time cases crossed the 3,000 mark during this time period.
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