India sets record for world’s highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases

India has set a new record for the world’s highest single-day rise in Covid-19 cases.

THE third worst hit country reported 78,761 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Sunday, August 30, as worldwide infections surpassed the 25 million mark, with 843,000 deaths.

According to Johns Hopkins University, America continues to be the most affected nation, accounting for almost six million infections.

It previously held the record number of 24-hour increases, with 77,299 recorded on July 17.

Despite India’s one-day rise and an upsurge in rural areas, the government continues to relax restrictions after a strict lockdown in a bid to rescue the economy.

From September, up to 100 people will be able to attend sports, cultural and entertainment events, though mask wearing and social distancing will remain compulsory, and in large cities, the underground train networks will reportedly be reinstated.

Cardiology doctor, Manoj Kumar, told Reuters: “It is the largest one-day surge in cases worldwide and the reason behind this – because the pandemic is spreading in the rural areas.”

And Dr Rajiv Parekh, chairman of the Medanta division of peripheral vascular and endovascular sciences, told the same news organisation: “People thought that once the numbers started to go down, this was it, they had won the war…. everybody was out there without wearing a mask, without any social distancing.”

He added that this is something “that we should not have allowed to happen”.

There are also concerns about a lack of sufficient testing and of under-reporting cases as India’s government records the number of deaths from actual positive cases and not from ‘suspected’ ones.

There have been 63,000 recorded deaths and around 3.5 million infections since the start of the pandemic.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, called on the nation to follow the guidelines, and said “coronavirus can only be defeated” by wearing a mask and keeping a distance of two metres.