India overtakes Brazil with second-highest virus cases

India overtook Brazil on Monday to become the second-worst affected country in terms of coronavirus cases behind the United States, according to an AFP tally.   

The South Asian nation has recorded 4.20 million infections since the pandemic began, health ministry data showed, compared with 4.12 million in Brazil and 6.25 million in the US.   
India has also recorded 71,642 deaths, fewer than the 126,203 in Brazil and 188,540 in the US.   

Many experts, however, say it is not testing enough people and not properly recording many deaths, meaning the real numbers may be much higher.   

Since August the country of 1.3 billion people, home to some of the world’s most densely populated cities, has been reporting the highest single-day rises in the world. On Monday it reported an increase of more than 90,000 cases.   Its caseload moved past four million on Saturday, only 13 days after hitting 
three million.   

Virologist Shahid Jameel, who heads the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance, said the key factor to watch is the growth rate in infections, which he called “quite alarming”.   

Despite warnings that it could eventually overtake the US to become the world’s most-infected country, India has been steadily reopening its pandemic-battered economy.   
Economic output contracted a historic 23.9 percent between April and June.   

On Monday, metro trains in major cities, including the capital New Delhi -- one of the most badly hit cities along with financial hub Mumbai -- reopened after a hiatus of nearly six months. 
NEW DELHI AFP Sept7, 2020