37,000 new cases in India as more testing urged

Published On: July 21, 2020 01:00 PM NPT By: Associated Press

A worker wearing a protective gear sprays disinfectant as a precaution against a new coronavirus at a theater in Sejong Center in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 21, 2020. South Korea’s new virus cases have bounced back Tuesday, a day after it reported its smallest daily jump in local COVID-19 transmissions in two months. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

NEW DELHI, July 21: A surge of 37,140 new cases in the past 24 hours has taken India’s number of coronavirus infections to 1,155,191.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday also reported 587 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities to 28,084. The number of recoveries stand at 724,577.

India’s top medical research body, the Indian Council for Medical Research, has asked states to add more labs and increase testing capacity of the approved labs. A country of 1.4 billion people, India has been conducting nearly 10,000 tests per million population.

With a surge in virus cases in the past few weeks, local state governments in India have been ordering focused lockdowns in high-risk areas to slow new infections.

Experts say India is likely to witness a series of peaks as the virus spreads in rural areas where the healthcare system is weak.