India sets world’s highest single-day rise with 78,761 new coronavirus cases

• Global COVID-19 cases exceed 25 million

India on Sunday set a new virus record when it reported 78,761 new infections in 24 hours, according to health ministry figures, passing the United States for the world’s highest single-day rise.

India, home to 1.3 billion people, is already the world’s third-most infected nation with more than 3.5 million cases, behind the US and Brazil. It has also reported more than 63,000 deaths.

The US set the previous record on July 17 with 77,638 daily infections, according to an AFP tally.

India’s grim milestone came a day after the government further eased its coronavirus lockdown, in place since late March, to boost the struggling economy.

Millions have lost their jobs since the start of the lockdown, with the poor particularly hard hit.

Health workers wearing Personal Protective Equiment (PPE) kits work on the collected swab samples for the Covid-19 coronavirus at a testing camp in Sanathal, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on August 30, 2020. – India on August 30 set a coronavirus record when it reported 78,761 new infections in 24 hours — the world’s highest single-day rise — even as it continued to open up the economy. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)

The coronavirus has badly hit megacities such as financial hub Mumbai and the capital New Delhi but is now also surging in smaller cities and rural areas.

Schools remain closed but students can meet teachers on a voluntary basis on school premises if needed, according to the new guidelines. Meanwhile, global coronavirus cases surged past 25 million, according to a Johns Hopkins University’s tally, as deaths exceed 843,000. More than 16.4 million have recovered

The number of deaths caused by the coronavirus rose by 1,006 to 182,149 people in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, reporting a total of 5,934,824 cases, an increase of 44,292 from its previous count.

Cases in Argentine rose to 380,292 with 10,104 additional infections reported in the past 24 hours, according to health authorities. At least 185 more patients lost their lives, bringing fatalities to 8,129.

In Chile, cases increased by 1,870 to 405,972, while 60 more fatalities raised the death toll to 11,132.

As many as 1,035 new virus cases brought Bolivia’s tally to 113,129. At least 65 fatalities took the death toll to 4,791, according to the health authorities.