COVID-19: India daily new case rises to 100,000
India reported daily new cases of COVID-19 to 100,000 on Monday, becoming the second country after the United States to post high rate in a day.
The country’s daily infections have risen about 12 fold since hitting a multi-month low in early February, when authorities relieved most restrictions and most people stopped wearing face masks and following social distancing.
Subhash Salunke, a former WHO official who advises Maharashtra on its COVID-19 strategy, said cases in the state would continue to rise for another couple of weeks.
“A way out was vaccinating all adults in its hardest-hit cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Nashik.
“If we start doing this, by the end of April we will see a downward trend,” he said.
India has recorded the most number of infections in the past week anywhere in the world. More infectious variants of the virus may have played a role in the second surge.
Head of the Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, Rajib Dasgupta, ndia, said “The new variant, or variants of concern, probably explains a lot of it, rather than simplistic explanation of behavior.”
India, the world’s biggest maker of vaccines, has injected 77 million doses at home since starting its campaign in the middle of January – the third highest after the United States and China.
India is currently vaccinating only people above the age of 45, having covered health and front-line workers first with the AstraZeneca shot and a government-backed one.
Kamila/Reuters
