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India's Covid-19 infections cross 7 million

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India’s coronavirus case tally topped 7 million after it reported 74,383 new infections in the last 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed on Sunday, even as the spread moderated in western states such as Maharashtra.


Deaths from Covid-19 rose by 918 in the last 24 hours to 108,334, the ministry said.


India added a million cases in just 13 days, according to a Reuters tally of government data, and it has the second-highest number of infections, behind the United States which is approaching the 8 million mark.






New cases of COVID-19 in the United States hit a two-month high on Friday with over 58,000 infections of the coronavirus reported and hospitalizations in the Midwest at record levels for the fifth day in a row, according to a Reuters analysis.


Ten of the 50 states reported record one-day rises in cases on Friday, including the Midwestern states of Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. Wisconsin and Illinois recorded over 3,000 new cases for the second day in a row - a two-day trend not seen even during the height of the previous outbreak in the spring, according to Reuters data.


The Western states of Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming also reported their biggest one-day jumps in cases, as did Oklahoma and West Virginia.


Nineteen states have seen record increases in new cases so far in October.


While deaths nationally continue to trend downward, the United States is losing on average 700 lives a day. Three states reported a record one-day increase in fatalities on Friday: Arkansas, Missouri, and Montana. Health experts caution that deaths are a lagging indicator and usually rise weeks after cases climb.


The number of people who succumb to COVID-19 is expected to accelerate this winter.


The country’s daily death rate is projected to more than triple by mid-January to 2,250, with an overall 395,000 fatalities by Feb. 1, 2021, according to a new update of the University of Washington’s widely-cited model.


But if Americans increase their wearing of masks to the level seen in Singapore, the Feb. 1 death toll would drop to 316,000, saving 79,000 lives, according to the University’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, whose model has been cited by the White House Coronavirus Task Force.


Currently, there is no federal mandate to wear a mask, and 17 states do not require them, according to a Reuters analysis.


In addition to rising cases, hospitals in several states are straining to handle an influx of patients.


Seven states on Friday reported record numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.


In the Midwest, hospitalizations rose to nearly 9,000, continuing a streak of records that began on Monday. Agencies


 












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