India’s daily COVID-19 cases rise to record for fifth time this week

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) - India’s daily coronavirus cases yesterday rose to a new record for the fifth time this week and deaths surged to the highest in more than five months, with hospitals and crematoriums overflowing in parts of the country.

New cases in the world’s secondmost populous country have totalled the most of anywhere in the world over the last two weeks. India’s overall tally of 13.21 million is the thirdhighest globally, just shy of Brazil and below the worst affected country, the United States.

The second surge in infections, which has spread much more rapidly than the first one that peaked in

September, has forced many states to impose fresh curbs but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to impose a national lockdown given the high economic costs.

Authorities in Maharashtra, the Indian state with the highest cases, have ordered a weekend lockdown that will end early on Monday. Mega cities such as Mumbai, the country’s financial centre and Maharashtra’s capital, and the national capital of New Delhi have also imposed nightly curfews until the end of April.

India reported 145,384 new COVID-19 cases and 794 deaths, the Health Ministry reported.

Despite that, Prime Minister Modi again addressed an election rally crowded with thousands of people, many without masks, in the eastern state of West Bengal.

The government has blamed the resurgence mainly on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as businesses across the country have reopened since February, only to be partially shut again to control the current surge.

“Mass gatherings for elections and religious events have accelerated Covid, for which all of us are responsible to soame extent,” Sonia Gandhi, the chief of the main opposition Congress party, said in a statement.