India set to overtake US as country worst hit by coronavirus
20 September 2020, 18:04
Sunday’s surge raised the country’s virus tally to more than 5.4 million.
India has registered 92,605 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and is expected to surpass the United States as the pandemic’s worst-hit country within weeks.
The health ministry also reported 1,133 additional deaths for a total of 86,752.
Sunday’s surge raised the country’s virus tally to more than 5.4 million. India, however, also has the highest number of recovered patients in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. Its recovery rate stands at about 80%.
Over 60% of the active cases are concentrated in five of India’s 28 states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has faced scathing criticism for its handling of the pandemic amid a contracting economy that left millions jobless.
Meanwhile, Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, has moved close to easing severe lockdown restrictions after recording only 14 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday.
It was the second day in a row new infections fell below 30. There were also five deaths recorded on Sunday.
Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions are due to be eased next weekend when childcare centres will be allowed to reopen and gatherings of up to five people from two different households will be permitted. But that depends on the rolling 14-day average of new cases being below 50. It now stands at 36.2.
Victoria state health minister Jenny Mikakos praised residents for adhering to lockdown rules, saying: “The huge sacrifices made by Victorians are saving many lives.”
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison described an unexpected fall in Australia’s unemployment rate to 9.3% – down 14 percentage points from its peak during the pandemic – as “pleasant encouragement”.
The figures show about 400,000 Australians have recently returned to work.
In Myanmar, faced with a rapidly rising number of coronavirus cases and deaths, ministers have announced the tightest restrictions so far to fight the spread of the disease.
The measures cover Yangon, the country’s biggest city and main transportation hub. From Monday, just one person per household will be allowed out of their homes for shopping, and two for hospital visits, although a driver is also permitted when travelling by car. Wearing face masks is mandatory.
All office staff must work from home, while factories and construction enterprises must halt operations from September 24 to October 7.
Personnel of essential services, including banks, petrol stations, food shops and pharmacies are exempt from the order.
Travel out of Yangon was already banned and all domestic flights were grounded on September 11.
Until an upsurge in coronavirus cases last month, Myanmar appeared to have largely been spared from the pandemic, having recorded just 353 cases as of the beginning of August. The now has 5,541, including 92 deaths.
