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India passes into third case spot

July 07, 2020 00:00:00


India has overtaken Russia with the world's third-highest number of novel coronavirus cases, at nearly 700,000, according to the latest data, as the outbreak shows no sign of slowing, report agencies.

Health ministry data on Monday showed more than 23,000 new cases reported in the previous 24 hours, down slightly from Sunday's record increase of almost 25,000.

There have been almost 20,000 deaths in India since the first case was detected there in January.

India is now the world's third worst-affected country, behind only the United States and Brazil.

It has seen eight times the number of cases as China, that has a similar-sized population and is where the virus originated late last year.

Officials said they had reversed a decision to reopen the Taj Mahal, India's most famous tourist attraction, in the city of Agra, 200 km (125 miles) southeast of New Delhi, on Monday, following a spate of new cases in the area.

The pandemic has killed at least 537,715 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according Worldometers tally on Monday based on official sources.

The confirmed coronavirus cases reached 11,603,976 globally and more than 6.5 million recoveries as of Monday.

The United States is the hardest-hit country with 129,947 deaths. It is followed by Brazil with 64,867, Britain with 44,220, Italy with 34,861 and Mexico with 30,639 fatalities.

Stock markets in Asia and Europe rally, choosing to pin their hopes on the economic recovery from the coronavirus as lockdowns end, rather than worry about the spread of cases.

In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index rises 3.81 percent, tracking a surge in mainland Chinese markets, while European stock markets rebound strongly at the start of trading.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced health protocols to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the 2020 haj season, banning gatherings and meetings between pilgrims, the state news agency said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia decided in June to limit the number of domestic pilgrims attending the haj to around 1,000 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.


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