India goes past China in Covid-19 cases

NEWDELHI: The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in India on Friday crossed the total count of infections in China, where the highly contagious disease originated late last year, even as experts pointed out that the outbreak has not been as deadly as in the neighbouring country at the same stage of transmissions.

The Covid-19 cases in the country rose to 85,709 on Friday, according to HT’s dashboard, with 2,680 people having died so far of the respiratory illness. China has so far reported 82,933 Covid-19 cases, 4,633 of whom have died of the disease. Just four states – Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi – together account for two-thirds of

India’s cases. India’s fatality rate was 3.23%, compared to the global death rate of 6.92%; the recovery rate was 34.06%, according to the Union health ministry.

Experts say that a national lockdown imposed in India on March 25 to slow the spread of the disease appeared to have been effective in slowing the infections. However, with the gradual easing of restrictions – necessitated by sluggish economic indicators – they expect the cases to rise in the coming days.

China imposed a 76-day lockdown earlier this year in Wuhan, the city where the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen is believed to have jumped to humans. The move proved to be effective, with no Covid-19 death being reported in official figures in the neighbouring country over the last 30 days.

REUTERS Pedestrians walk on a bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The country opened its borders on Friday after declaring an end to its coronavirus epidemic, despite new infections still being reported. The mountainous nation of two million people, which borders Italy, Austria, Croatia and Hungary, had reported 1,465 coronavirus cases and 103 deaths, as of Friday.