India’s coronavirus caseload has skyrocketed by a record of 15,000 as
migrant workers left major cities and returned to rural villages.
The increase of 15,413 cases and a further 14,821 reported has brought India’s total Covid-19 infections to 425,282.
There were 445 new deaths from the disease today, bringing its total
death toll to 13,699, India’s health ministry reported. A total of 306
new deaths were reported yesterday.
The Indian government has run special trains to return thousands of migrant workers to their native villages in recent weeks.
Nearly 90 per cent of India’s poorest districts have coronavirus cases,
though the outbreak remains centred in Delhi, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
states.
These states are home to some of India’s major cities including New Delhi and Mumbai.
Infections slowed in China and South Korea, suggesting they are making headway in stemming their newest outbreaks.
Globally, the number of new virus cases has soared in recent days and in
Brazil, Iraq, India and the United States, hospitals are scrambling to
cope.
Nearly 9 million people have been infected by coronavirus and more than
468,000 people have died, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins
University.
Experts say the actual numbers are much higher, given limits to testing and the presumed large share of asymptomatic cases.
