INDIA REPORTS RECORD 75,760 NEW CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS

NEW DELHI—INDIA has recorded another single-day record of new coronavirus cases, reporting 75,760 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours.

The Health Ministry on Thursday also reported 1,023 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 60,472.

India’s previous highest daily count was 70,488 on August 22. India has been recording more than 60,000 new infections per day for the last two weeks and now has reported 3.3 million cases since the pandemic began.

With an average of more than 800,000 tests every day, India has scaled up testing per million to more than 27,000, the ministry said.

It also said India’s recovery rate is now around 76 percent with a fatality rate of 1.84 percent.

India has reported the third most cases in the world after the United States and Brazil, and its reported fatalities are the fourth highest in the world.

Other developments:

Victoria records 3rd deadliest day

MELBOURNE, Australia—australia’s virus hotspot Victoria state has recorded its third deadliest day of the pandemic as well as the lowest tally of new Covid-19 infections in more than eight weeks.

The 23 dead reported onthursday followed 24 deaths on Wednesday. The all-time daily record of 25 deaths was set on August 17.

Victoria’s Health Department said 22 of the most recent deaths were related to aged care.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said outcomes in four Melbourne aged care homes were “unacceptable.”

But while 56 percent of British aged care homes had staff or residents infected with Covid-19, the proportion was only 8 percent in Australia, he said. Only four out of 700 aged care facilities in Victoria had been “acutely effected,” he said.

“My fear when the Covid pandemic hit in Victoria was that we could have potentially seen far more,” Morrison said.

The 113 new cases reported on Thursday was the lowest count since 87 on July 5.

South Korea reports 441 new cases

SEOUL, South Korea—south Korea has reported 441 new cases of the coronavirus, its highest single-day total in months, as fears grow that lockdown-like restrictions are becoming inevitable.

The country has added nearly 4,000 infections to its caseload while reporting triple-digit daily jumps in each of the past 14 days, prompting health experts to warn about possible strain on hospitals.

The 441 cases reported on Thursday was the biggest daily increase since the 483 reported on March 7.

The National Assembly in Seoul was shut down and more than a dozen ruling party lawmakers were forced to isolate on Thursday following a positive test of a journalist covering the parliament.

If the viral spread doesn’t slow, health authorities have said they will consider elevating social distancing measures to the strongest “Level 3,”which could include banning gatherings of more than 10 people and advising private companies to have their employees work from home.