India's COVID cases top global rank as more of economy opens
India reported 78,512 novel coronavirus infections on Monday, more than any other country but fewer than the previous day when it posted the world's biggest, singleday tally, as authorities looked to open more sectors of the economy.
On Sunday, India's total of 78,761 new cases exceeded the previous global record of 77,299 in the United States on July 16, a Reuters tally of official data showed. The world's second-most populous country has been posting the highest single-day caseload in the world since Aug. 7. At 3.62 million cases, India is fast catching up to the United States and Brazil in terms of total cases but it has a lower death rate.
India's coronavirus deaths went up by 971 in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 64,469, the health ministry said. The huge numbers have got authorities worried, especially with people in rural areas largely abandoning rules aimed at stopping the spread, officials say.
Kumar Sanjay Krishna, the chief secretary of Assam, one of the worst-hit states, attributed the increasing cases to more testing, the opening of the economy and complacency. "People are not following precautionary steps and are violating the COVID protocols," he said on Twitter. "From Monday onwards there shall be visible strict action taken against those who violate the norms of social distancing or found not wearing a face mask."
But at the same time, fears are growing for the world's fifth-largest economy, with a contraction in gross domestic product for the June quarter expected to be announced later on Monday. Hoping to avert more serious economic damage, the government is relaxing restrictions and has announced that urban metro trains can resume services from Sept. 7.
Also, up to 100 people will be allowed to congregate for events including religious and political functions later in September. India's second-most industrialised state of Tamil Nadu said it would partially open public transport, allow shopping malls and places of worship to operate, abolish full shutdowns on Sundays and increase flights. The government is also allowing states to let some school staff report to duty and has resisted pressure to delay exams slated to start Tuesday, with more than 2 million students aiming for admission to medical and engineering schools. Interior Minister Amit Shah, who had been admitted to hospital twice after contracting the virus, was discharged from on Monday. Many senior politicians have been infected.
Meanwhile, US cases of the novel coronavirus surpassed six million on Sunday as many states in the Midwest reported increasing infections, according to a Reuters tally. Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Nationally, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalizations and the positivity rates of tests are all declining, but there are emerging hotspots in the Midwest. Many of the new cases in Iowa are in the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State
University, which are holding some in-person classes. Colleges and universities around the country have seen outbreaks after students returned to campus, forcing some to switch to online-only learning.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said his state was sending a "SWAT team" to a State University of New York (SUNY) campus in Oneonta in upstate New York to contain a COVID-19 outbreak. Fall classes, which started last week at the college, were suspended for two weeks after more than 100 people tested positive for the virus, about 3% of the total student and faculty population, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said.
"We have had reports of several large parties of our students at Oneonta last week, and unfortunately because of those larger gatherings, there were several students who were symptomatic of COVID," Malatras said. Across the Midwest, infections have also risen after an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota drew more than 365,000 people from across the country from Aug. 7 to 16.