Health care workers handling a sample being tested for coronavirus on Sept. 3 in Patiala, India.
India's total number of reported coronavirus cases topped 4 million on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Why it matters: The country, home to roughly 1.4 billion people, has the third-highest case count in the world behind the United States and Brazil, which have reported 6,200,186 and 4,091,801 infections respectively.
By the numbers: India’s Health Ministry also reported 1,089 new deaths on Friday associated with the virus, bringing the nation's total casualties from the pandemic to 69,561.
The big picture: Most of India’s cases are in western Maharashtra state and the four southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, but new hot spots are emerging elsewhere in country, according to AP.
Go deeper: Peru now has world's highest coronavirus death rate