India crosses 28 million Covid-19 cases while daily infections drop

New Delhi, May 31 (EFE).- India on Monday crossed 28 million coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic, even as it recorded the lowest number of daily infections in the last 50 days.

According to data from the health ministry, 152,734 fresh cases were detected in the last 24 hours, compared to the more than 400,000 cases per day registered in early May at the peak of the virulent second wave.

The ministry underlined in a statement that India recorded less than 200,000 cases for the fourth consecutive day.

This takes the total confirmed cases to more than 28 million, which is the second highest in the world after the United States (33.2 million).

The number of coronavirus deaths in India remained high, with 3,128 fatalities in the last 24 hours, although it was slightly lower than the 3,460 recorded the previous day.

According to official data, the pandemic has claimed the lives of 329,100 people in the South Asian country, a number that is only behind that of the US and Brazil.

The positivity rate is around nine percent compared to a month ago when it was around 20 percent.

The World Health Organization considers that the pandemic is only under control in a country if the positivity rate is below five percent.

The decline in cases has reflected in cities such as New Delhi, where on Monday the authorities relaxed its lockdown measures after weeks.

The Indian capital was among the most severely affected over the last few weeks by the second wave, with insufficient hospital beds and medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients, and crematoriums overcrowded with bodies.

The authorities and experts see the vaccination campaign as the best solution to the health crisis.

So far, the country has administered 213 million doses since the campaign started in January.

A little over one million jabs were administered in the last 24 hours in the country of over 1.35 billion people. EFE

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