COVID-19 Cases: India Among 10 Worst Virus-Hit Nations After 4 Days Of Record Spikes

India Coronavirus Cases: More than 4,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 have been reported so far.

Highlights

India logged 6,977 new cases in last 24 hours, total cases at 1.38 lakh
More than 4,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 have been reported so far
Increase in the number of cases comes amid relaxations by the government

New Delhi: India has emerged as the tenth worst-hit country by the novel coronavirus after four days of record spikes in the number of cases. The country logged 6,977 new patients in the last 24 hours, taking the total to nearly 1.38 lakh cases. The number of COVID-19 linked deaths has crossed the 4,000-mark after 154 patients died in a single day. The pandemic has spread to 196 countries and territories since it began in China's Wuhan city in December. The increase in the number of cases in India comes amid relaxations by the government, two months after a countrywide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a huge relief to the aviation sector, which has suffered huge losses due to the pandemic, domestic air travel was resumed this morning.

Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:

India is the tenth most affected country by the pandemic after the United States, Brazil, Russia, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Germany. The United States - epicentre of the pandemic - has registered more than 1.6 million cases and nearly 1,00,000 deaths linked to COVID-19.
India has been recording more than 6,000 fresh coronavirus cases for the last four days. Last week, a record number of new patients was registered on five days after lockdown was eased in several parts of India for the fourth phase. While 5,242 cases were registered last Monday, 5,611 cases were reported on Wednesday, 6,088 cases on Friday and 6,654 cases were registered on Saturday. On Sunday, India registered 6,767 new patients.
Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations across the country today have been subdued due to the shutdown. Mosques that see congregations of thousands of people are deserted as Muslim leaders appealed to the devotees to stay indoors.
Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, crossed the 50,000-mark in the number of coronavirus cases on Sunday. The state reported its highest single-day spike of 3,041 cases.
This morning, as domestic flights resumed, passengers were seen wearing face shields and masks, crew members were seen in protective gowns, masks and face shields. While the centre has not insisted on any quarantine, various states have insisted on varying degrees of quarantine creating huge confusion among travellers.
The government has asked all passengers to download the Aarogya Setu application on their mobile devices and states to ensure thermal screening.
In Assam, more than 10,000 people are grappling with floods amid the pandemic. Last week, Cyclone Amphan had hit Bengal destroying tens of thousands of homes and leaving lakhs without power, water and sanitation.
In Chennai, 17 big industrial estates reopen today, nearly two months after operations were shut due to the lockdown. Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of coronavirus cases in India.
Four out of the 14 COVID-19 vaccine candidates from India may enter the clinical trial stage in the next three-five months, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday. "There are more than 100 candidates for developing a vaccine that are working at different levels. The WHO is coordinating the efforts," the health minister was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "It's very difficult to predict when a vaccine will come, but as a doctor, I can say that the process it involves, one year would be a modest estimate," he said.
Worldwide, over 54 lakh people have been affected by the pandemic, nearly 3.4 lakh have died.