India’s confirmed coronavirus cases touch 6mn-mark

India’s confirmed coronavirus tally reached six million on Monday.

The country remains second to the United States in the number of reported cases since the pandemic began.

The Health Ministry on Monday reported 82,170 new cases in the past 24 hours, driving the overall tally to 60,74,703, reports AP.

At least 1,039 deaths were also recorded in the same period, taking total fatalities up to 95,542.

New infections in India are currently being reported faster than anywhere else in the world.

The world’s second-most populous country is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country in coming weeks, surpassing the US, where more than 7 million infections have been reported.

Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December last year. The World Health Organisation declared it a pandemic.

Even as infections mount, India has the highest number of recovered patients in the world.

More than 5 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in India and the country’s recovery rate stands at 82 percent, according to the Health Ministry.

The pandemic disrupted the global supply chain and brought the world economy to its knees. The ILO said workers lost $3.5 trillion in wages or 5.5 percent of the overall global gross domestic product (GDP) during this pandemic.

India relaxed virus restrictions to ease economic woes but the country’s coronavirus cases increased significantly since reopening.