India crosses Russia in number of coronavirus cases

NEW DELHI: India has crossed Russia by becoming the third-highest country with the number of coronavirus cases around the world.

India has overtaken Russia to become the third-hardest-hit country in the world after the number of coronavirus cases climbed to nearly 700,000. The health ministry said that 697,358 cases had now been recorded, a rise of 24,000 in 24 hours, while Russia has just over 681,000.

The United States and Brazil have the highest numbers of cases but India’s tally is not expected to peak for several more weeks and experts predict the one million figure will be passed this month.

India has registered 19,963 deaths from the virus, a much lower number than many other badly hit countries. The country’s major cities have been the worst hit by the pandemic. New Delhi and Mumbai each have about 100,000 cases, with 3,000 dead in the capital and nearly 5,000 in Mumbai.

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The COVID-19 cases have crossed 1 lakh mark in Delhi but there is no need to panic as around 72,000 people have also recovered.  New Delhi has opened a new 10,000-bed temporary virus hospital while other cities are tightening restrictions on movement to head off a new surge in cases.

The Kerala state capital, Thiruvananthapuram imposed a new lockdown from today with public transport shut and only pharmacies allowed to open.