India’s coronavirus cases soar past 2 million

India, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in Asia, has today reported its total number of coronavirus cases have jumped to more than two million.   

It is only the third nation to pass the grim milestone, lagging behind the United States and Brazil, after seeing the number of infections double in just three weeks.   

With the virus spreading further to smaller towns and rural areas, experts say the epidemic in India is likely to be months away from hitting its peak, putting more strain on an already overburdened healthcare system.   

Authorities are continuing to battle multiple outbreaks across what is the world’s second most populous country which is home to 1.3 billion people   

In the past 24 hours the health ministry reported 62,538 new infections, taking the country’s total to 2.03 million.   
A further 886 people died with total deaths climbing to 41,585.   

The rate of spread also appears to be increasing and is now at 3.1 per cent.   
India logged its first one million infections by July 17 and crossed the 1.5 million mark just 12 days 
after that.   

‘A country of India’s size and diversity has multiple epidemics in different phases,’ said Rajib Dasgupta, head of the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.   

India has been posting an average of around 50,000 new cases a day since mid-June but experts say its testing rate at 16,035 per million people is far too low.   

The government has taken some solace from the relatively low death rate, at about two per cent, with 41,585 deaths so far.
- India, (Daily Mail), 
7 August 2020