India crosses the 100,000-case threshold for daily infections
IslamNews – India recorded its highest tally of new coronavirus infections on Monday as officials in the hardest-hit state reimposed lockdowns and warned that hospitals even in smaller cities were running out of beds.
More than half of the new infections were traced to the western state of Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, India’s financial capital. It came even as India continues to vaccinate more than three million people every day, one of the largest efforts in the world.
State officials ordered all shops, movie theaters, markets and restaurants to close starting Monday evening and imposed a nighttime curfew. Critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has sent mixed signals, encouraging people to attend celebrations for Holi, a major religious festival where hundreds of new cases were traced to, and campaign rallies.
India’s vaccination drive has been a bright spot at home, but curtailing exports of vaccines has set back poorer countries that were counting on India for their doses.
Officials announced Monday morning that they had recorded 103,558 new cases in 24 hours. After several months of declines, daily infections have surged tenfold since mid-February.
Source: The New York Times
