LUCKNOW (Reuters) -India reported on Monday a record-breaking daily record of 168,912 COVID-19 infections, the world’s highest, as worries rose after further growth as hundreds of thousands of followers gathered for a ritual bath in the river Ganges.
India is now one in six infections worldwide worldwide. The new cases on Monday passed it over Brazil, for an overall figure of 13.53 million, according to data compiled by Reuters, placing it in second place after the United States, with 31.2 million.
A full opening of India’s economy after last year’s crippling blockade, mass religious festivals and political rallies in the states holding elections have exacerbated a second wave of infections, experts say.
In the northern city of Haridwar, nearly a million followers crowded the banks of the Ganges, a river that many Hindus consider sacred, to join the month of “Kumbh Mela” or the jug festival, risking a wave of infections.
“The crowd here is growing … the police are constantly appealing to people to maintain social distance,” police official Sanjay Gunjyal told Reuters on the spot.
Few wore masks as they pushed themselves into a water bath on a day considered auspicious in the Hindu calendar.
Authorities forced antivirus tests on those entering the area, where officials said they were fighting to detain the crowds.
Elections are also set to take place in four major states this month, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveling to the east of West Bengal to address rallies that will attract thousands.
“With 1.2 million active cases, and the daily number reaches 200,000, it’s strange to have poll rallies and a full Kumbh Mela,” political commentator Shekhar Gupta said in a Twitter post.
“This will take the virus deeper into villages and small towns. This is the calamity we avoided with a paralyzing blockage in the first wave. Now we invite him back. ”
A death toll of 904 overnight was the highest since October 18, bringing the total to 170,179, the data show.
The richest state plans blocked
Officials in the hardest-hit state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai’s financial capital, said they were considering a wider blockade after heavy closures over the weekend.
The state, India’s industrial hub, registered 63,294 new infections on Sunday, driven by growth in its key cities of Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune.
“It is necessary to break the cycle (of infections),” said a senior state official who attended a meeting with state leaders on Sunday and sought anonymity.
“We are working to identify industries and services that need to be exempted.”
The state is among many that have called for more doses of vaccines for immunization campaigns. India has injected more than 100 million doses since mid-January, the highest figure after the United States and China, but much lower in its population than many countries.
As cases increased, India banned the export of remdesivir antiviral drugs and its active ingredients, which doctors used to treat patients.
(Global Vaccination Monitor: here)
(Interactive graphical tracking of the global spread of coronavirus: here)
Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav, Saurabh Sharma; Additional reporting by Suchitra Mohanty and Rama Venkat; Written by Neha Arora; Montage by Sanjeev Miglani