NEW DELHI – India today recorded over 400,000 Covid-19 cases over 24 hours for the first time, becoming the first country to do so in the pandemic, official data showed.
The Health Ministry said 401,993 new infections were registered, taking the total caseload to 19.1 million. There were another 3,523 deaths, bringing the toll to 211,853.
Many experts suspect that the real numbers are much higher, due to insufficient testing and inaccurate recording of causes of death.
Indian authorities lowered their guard in the early part of the year after infections fell below 10,000 per day, lifting restrictions on most activities.
Mass religious gatherings such as the Kumbh Mela, attracting millions of Hindu pilgrims, and political rallies were allowed to continue even when cases numbers began rising sharply in late March.
Last month alone, the nation recorded around seven million new cases. On a per capita basis, however, India’s caseload remains low compared with many other countries. – AFP, May 1, 2021
