India's virus caseload hits 3.0 million

NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (AP): India's coronavirus caseload topped 3 million on Sunday, with the country leading the world in new infections as the disease marched through impoverished rural areas in the north and the wealthier but older populations of the south.

Health authorities reported 10,339 new cases and 912 deaths, bringing the total to 3,044,940. The number of new infections reported Sunday marked a sharp decline from the previous 18 days, when India had reported more than 60,000 cases daily.

Cases have leveled off in India's two largest cities, with serological surveys showing widespread prevalence among the residents of the capital, New Delhi, and financial center Mumbai.

New hot spots continue to feed surges in cases in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states in India's north, and in the southern states of Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.