India Crosses 3 Million Coronavirus Cases

The number of coronavirus cases in India crossed 3 million just 15 days after the country reported 2 million cases, according to data. India logged more than 2 million coronavirus cases on August 7.

The total cases in India are now 30,05,281, up by 29,580 since the last update 24 hours ago. India is behind Brazil and the US in biggest number of cases. India has been reporting the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases for the last 18 days.

Maharashtra with 6,57,450 has the highest cases in India, followed by Tamil Nadu (3,73,410) and Andhra Pradesh (3,45,216).

The country today also saw its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases with 69,878 new patients reported in the last 24 hours till this morning, Health Ministry data shows.

Several states have announced fresh restrictions amid spike in cases. Haryana on Friday announced weekend lockdown and said all offices and shops will remain shut on weekends, except stores selling essential items.

Punjab ordered daily night curfew (7 pm to 5 am) from Friday and a weekend lockdown in all 167 cities and towns in the state, as part of a strict response to the worrying surge in coronavirus cases.

The number of deaths has surpassed 8 lakh around the world. Latin America and the Caribbean is the worst-affected region with 254,897 deaths. More than half of global fatalities have been reported in four countries - the US, Brazil, Mexico and India.

Several countries are working on a number of vaccines to fight the novel coronavirus, which causes the highly infectious disease COVID-19.

Russia plans to roll out its "Sputnik-V" vaccine even before full trials. But it is prompting concern among virus experts, who warn a partially effective shot may encourage the novel coronavirus to mutate.