India overtakes Russia to become third worst hit by coronavirus

The unrelenting record single-day surge of Covid-19 cases has taken India past Russia as the third worst-hit in terms of total number of contagion cases on Sunday night.

In an update this morning by the Indian health ministry, the nation reported a single-day rise of 24,248 cases, taking the total to over 697,413 cases.

The total death toll rose to 19,693 with 425 new fatalities, the ministry data showed.

This puts India above Russia, which had 6.8 lakh as per America's Johns Hopkins University (JHU), two notches behind the US (more than 28 lakh cases) and Brazil (over 15 lakh cases).

The death toll rose by 613, the highest spike in a day so far, to reach 19,268 in the country.

The last 24-hour increase in fresh cases was contributed largely by western and southern parts of the country amid heavy monsoon rains.

The last four days have seen more than 20,000 fresh cases being added in India every day.

Maharashtra in the west, the worst-hit state, recorded over 7,000 new cases while Tamil Nadu and Delhi recorded more than 4,200 and 2,500 fresh cases respectively in the last 24 hours, said the Indian health ministry data.

Karnataka and West Bengal recorded their highest single-day jump in cases till Sunday night.

As far as the total number of cases is concerned, Maharashtra crossed the two lakh mark, Tamil Nadu's tally reached 1.11 lakh and Delhi too was nearing the one lakh mark.

Assam announced a two-week lockdown in Dima Hasao district from today and is the second district in the state after Kamrup Metropolitan, which primarily comprises Guwahati city, to do so. A two-week lockdown from June 28 to July 12 has been imposed in Kamrup Metropolitan.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the coronavirus situation in Guwahati, where 2,741 fresh cases were reported in the last 10 days, is "alarming" and may worsen if restrictions imposed are not followed seriously by the people.

Karnataka has announced a full shutdown barring essential services on every Sunday till August 2. Roads wore a deserted look, people stayed indoors and all commercial activities came to a grinding halt on the first such weekly shutdown. The state recorded 1,925 new cases and an aggregate of 23,474.

Tamil Nadu reported over 4,000 fresh cases for the fourth straight day on Sunday, taking the tally to 111,151, while 60 people succumbed to the virus, pushing the toll to 1,510, the state health department said.

Kerala, once touted as a role model for handling the pandemic, there is heightened concern among authorities as the southern state is witnessing a spike in cases and the authorities have announced Rs 10,000 as penalty for not wearing masks in public places and that health guidelines will be in force for a year.

"It's like we are sitting on top of an active volcano which can burst anytime. Just because there has been no community spread till now doesn't mean it will not occur," Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said on Sunday, referring to the Covid-19 situation in the state's capital city Thiruvananthapuram, which went under complete lockdown for a week from today.

Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today attacked the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's handing of the pandemic saying the rising coronavirus cases in India would be included in future Harvard Business School case studies on failure.