India suffers its worst daily rise in coronavirus cases with 7,964 new infections as the country prepares to lift two-month lockdown
- India announced 7,964 new cases and 265 new deaths surpassing China
- The spike was announced a day before the country is set to ease lockdown
- Disease experts warned India may not reach its coronavirus peak before June
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
On Saturday India announced 7,964 coronavirus cases and 265 new related deaths, its worst daily spike, a day before the country is set to come out of lockdown.
The federal government will issue new guidelines this weekend and may extend lockdown in the worst-hit areas.
More than 70 per cent of cases are in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan states.
India has announced its highest spike in coronavirus cases a day before the country is set to come out of lockdown. Pictured: Relatives wearing protective equipment to bury a woman who died of coronavirus in Amritsar
India’s cases and deaths have now surpassed China. Pictured: A gravedigger instructing the relatives of someone who died from coronavirus
These numbers bring India’s total confirmed cases to 174,355 and 4,982 deaths surpassing China in both.
Disease experts have warned that India may not reach its peak before June.
India started easing their lockdown earlier this month when they reopened shops, manufacturing and resumed a small amount of train links and domestic flights.
New guidelines to extend the lockdown would give powers to states to ease or tighten the lockdown as they see fit.
India’s lockdown originally banned all but essential activities causing a huge amount of migrant workers to start leaving cities for their rural homes.
India began to ease its lockdown at the beginning of the month reopening shops, manufacturing and some public transport. Pictured: People queueing to collect free grocery items distributed by volunteers in Amritsar
Authorities picked up travellers in a fleet of buses and quarantined many of them in empty schools and other public buildings for 14 days.
India’s PM, Narendra Mod, said India would set ‘an example in economic revival’ and asked the country to show a ‘firm resolve’ in an open letter to the country.
He also sympathised with the ‘tremendous suffering’ of the millions of migrant workers who had lost their jobs during lockdown and then had to make dangerous trips to their hometowns.
India went into its strict lockdown earlier than many countries when it had just over 500 confirmed cases.
Despite the early lockdown India has been one of the worst-hit countries in the world
But the government is still trying to ease lockdown to save the economy.
In a national address he said: ‘Corona will remain part of our lives for a long time.
‘But we cannot allow our lives to be confined only around corona.’