Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Health
Alasdair Pal and Nivedita Bhattacharjee

India's coronavirus infections spike again after dip

A man wearing a protective face mask holds a placard and a candle during a vigil for the people from around the world, who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Kolkata, India, September 23, 2020. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

India's coronavirus infections surged again on Wednesday, a day after falling to their lowest figure in almost a month.

In the last 24 hours, there were 83,347 new cases, with 1,085 deaths, federal health data showed.

Kids' drawings are displayed on a panel inside a quarantine centre for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients amidst the spread of the disease at an indoor sports complex in New Delhi, India, September 22, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

India, with a population of about 1.4 billion, has been consistently reporting the world's highest daily tallies of infections, as it grapples with overstretched health services in the effort to control the pandemic.

Its 5.6 million coronavirus cases rank second only to the United States, and more than 90,000 people have died.

Tuesday's figure of 75,083 was the lowest since Sept. 1, and Wednesday's total is below the record 97,894 hit on Sept. 17.

A woman sits with her child inside a quarantine centre for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients amidst the spread of the disease at an indoor sports complex in New Delhi, India, September 22, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

But experts say it is still too early to tell if the first wave of the pandemic in the country has peaked.

"A drop over only a few days may not be significant," said Giridhara R Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India.

"We need to ensure that the increase in tests is sustained," he said, adding that it would take at least another week to tell if cases in the country had really subsided.

India's parliament, which met for the first time in six months on Sept. 14, is set to end its session on Wednesday, a week earlier than scheduled, after 30 lawmakers tested positive for the coronavirus.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in New Delhi and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Catherine Evans)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.