India’s coronavirus infections crossed the 1,00,000 mark and are escalating at the fastest pace in Asia, just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi further relaxed the country’s nationwide lockdown to boost economic activities.
Infections in the country of 1.3 billion people were at 101,328, including more than 3,000 deaths, as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. As many as 5,242 new cases were added on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.
India is now among the nations worst hit by the epidemic, with a 28% increase in cases since last week according to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker. Neighbor Pakistan has 42,125 cases including 903 deaths. Its cases increased by 19% over the same period, the tracker showed.
“The challenges are huge, but a two-fold strategy would help reduce infections and flatten the curve,” said Rajmohan Panda, additional professor at the Public Health Foundation of India, adding the rise in infections is expected with the opening of the economy. “The focus should now be prioritized in low income settlements, with an emphasis of sub district level containment measures.”
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