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NEW DELHI: India has the world’s fourth-biggest outbreak of the virus that causes COVID-19, with more than 500,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.
According to Indian government authorities, a total of 15,685 people had died after another 385 fatalities were added to the toll in 24 hours.
The virus has particularly hit India’s densely populated cities and there are now major concerns for New Delhi which has overtaken Mumbai with nearly 80,000 cases. The Mumbai city of around 20 million people only has around 13,200 beds for COVID-19 patients and will add at least 20,000 in the coming weeks.
Delhi authorities have called in 33,000 health workers to screen about two million people in sealed off zones across the city of 20 million people.
“It is likely that we’re going into a state unless we are able to reinforce a strict physical distancing mechanism or a hard lockdown, where the rate of infection will continue to increase,” said Anant Bhan, a leading public health expert.
“Unlike China, where the pandemic was relatively more concentrated around Wuhan and a few other cities, India has a more diffused spread that makes it a bit more challenging for the healthcare system,” he said.
The pandemic is expected to peak in India for several more weeks and experts say the number of cases could pass one million before the end of July.
Some state governments are considering imposing new lockdowns. A hard-hitting nationwide lockdown that started March 25 is gradually being eased because of the damage caused to the economy. The global infections stood at 9,777,889, with deaths approaching 500,000.
Read more: Coronavirus entering new and dangerous phase: WHO
