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India surpasses Brazil with world's 2nd most coronavirus infections
Brazil, which had overtaken India last month to become the world's second most infected country, has slightly over 13.48 million cases, according to the same tally.
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People stand in queues as they wait to register themselves for the Covid-19 coronavirus test at a testing centre in Allahabad on April 12, 2021 as India overtook Brazil as the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections. (AFP/Sanjay Kanodia)
I
ndia said Monday it now has over 13.52 million coronavirus cases, making it a country with the second most infections in the world after the United States, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
Brazil, which had overtaken India last month to become the world's second most infected country, has slightly over 13.48 million cases, according to the same tally.
India is in the throes of a second virus surge, and reported around 168,900 new daily cases on Monday, far surpassing the September peak in its first surge, Kyodo News reported.
The government is calling on the public to continue wearing masks and observing social distancing measures while seeking to vaccinate its population. But in a country of over 1.3 billion people, demand far outstrips supply.
AFP reported that hospitals across the nation say they are being overwhelmed by the new cases, and daily deaths have more than doubled.
"There is no alternative now to this in order to curb the Covid-19 surge," junior minister Farhad Hossain said ahead of the clampdown announcement.
Indian authorities have also warned of tougher restrictions unless the public keeps to social distancing and the wearing of masks.
"The whole country has been complacent -- we allowed social, religious and political congregations," Rajib Dasgupta, a health professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, told AFP.
India has recorded more than 873,000 cases in the last seven days -- an increase of 70 percent compared to the previous week, according to data compiled by AFP.
The United States -- the worst-hit country -- reported just under 490,000 cases with a rising trend of nine percent.
The spike in India, after daily rises in cases fell below 9,000 in early February, has seen many badly affected states and territories impose restrictions on movement and activities.
India's wealthiest state Maharashtra, which has been the main driver of the infection spike, last week imposed a weekend lockdown and night curfew.
But Maharashtra has warned that a complete lockdown -- a drastic measure that national and state governments have tried to avoid to protect the already devastated economy -- could be imposed within the next few days as cases continue to rise.
"The solution is for everyone to stay home for two months and end this (pandemic) once and for all. But the public doesn't listen," said Rohit, 28, a waiter at a popular Mumbai restaurant who moved to the financial hub for work from the northern state of Punjab.
"Nobody follows the rules in the restaurant... If we tell customers to wear masks, they are rude and disrespectful to us."
The chief minister in New Delhi, where a night curfew is in place, said Sunday that two thirds of new Covid-19 patients were younger than 45.
He said the government would consider imposing a lockdown if hospital beds start running out.
