India: COVID-19 infections surpass 8M mark

By Cheena Kapoor

NEW DELHI, India (AA) - India’s coronavirus infections crossed the 8 million mark on Thursday after it recorded more than 49,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to official figures.

The Health Ministry announced that 49,881 additional infections were registered, taking the total to 8,040,203.

The death toll stands at 120,527, which includes 517 new fatalities.

Over 7.3 million patients have recovered from the disease in the country, 56,480 in the last 24 hours, raising the recovery rate to 90.99%. The total number of active cases in the country now stands at 603,687.

Earlier this month, India was witnessing a steady decline in infections as a government-appointed panel had noted that the country possibly crossed its infections peak last month.

The current spike came two days after the country since July has reported its lowest single-day cases at 36,370 on Tuesday.

According to the Health Ministry data, five states, including the capital Delhi, account for nearly 50% of the new cases.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said extensive efforts are being made for vaccine development and its equitable distribution.

“Of the nine vaccine candidates globally, which are in advanced phases of the clinical trial, three are from India. The states have been asked to draw up lists of people who need to be immunized on priority,” he said.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.17 million lives in 190 countries and regions since last December.

The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.