India has recorded 100,000 new coronavirus cases in the past four days, as the country struggles to gain control of the worsening pandemic.
The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday announced another 28,498 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the country’s total to 906,752.
Sunday marked the fourth consecutive day of highest daily jumps in cases and if the trend continues, it’s likely India will hit 1 million COVID-19 infections by the end of the week.
India now has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, after the United States and Brazil, according to the health ministry. There have been a reported total of 23,727 deaths relating to COVID-19.
The devastating wave of infections comes as lockdown restrictions country-wide have eased and operations steadily increasing over the past few weeks.
However, the jump in cases caused the city of Bengaluru to reintroduce lockdown measures for seven days, starting Tuesday, to contain a massive cluster of COVID-19 cases, authorities said.
Shopping malls and cinemas will be closed, public transport suspended, and shops selling essentials such as grocers will have reduced hours.
The virus has seen some of Bollywood’s biggest stars admitted to hospital after testing positive for coronavirus over the weekend.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was in a “stable” condition in the isolation unit at Nanavati Hospital in the city of Mumbai, the facility said in a statement, after he and his son Abhishek Bachchan were both admitted following positive tests late Saturday evening.
And soon later Abhiskek Bachchan’s wife, the heralded actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, also entered hospital. The couple’s daughter tested positive for COVID-19 too.
Last week, Health Ministry official Rajesh Bhushan said in a press briefing that “localized outbreaks” had occurred in “a few geographical areas” but that India was doing a better job of managing the outbreak than other countries.
