NEW DELHI -- India has recorded another record number of new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours as it ramps up testing to more than 900,000 a day.
The 69,652 new cases reported Thursday, August 20, push India’s total reported cases past 2.8 million, of which two million have recovered.
The Health Ministry said another 977 coronavirus fatalities were recorded in the past 24 hours, raising total deaths to 53,866.
India has conducted three million tests for the virus, but experts have urged increasing its testing capacity greatly, given India has the world’s second-highest population of 1.4 billion people.
It has the third-most reported cases in the world, behind the United States and Brazil, and has the fourth highest number of reported deaths behind the US, Brazil and Mexico.
India’s nationwide lockdown imposed in late March began easing in May and is now largely being enforced in high-risk areas. (AP)