Sep 7, 2020 - World

India's coronavirus cases surge to second highest in the world

Rebecca Falconer

A health worker collects a swab sample from a girl for coronavirus testing, at New Ashok Nagar, on August 18, 2020 in New Delhi, India. — A health worker collects a swab sample from a girl for coronavirus testing at New Ashok Nagar, in New Delhi, India, in August. Photo: Mohd Zakir/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

India is now second only to the U.S. for coronavirus cases after surpassing Brazil for infections on Monday morning.

By the numbers: India has reported more than 4.2 million COVID-19 infections and Brazil has confirmed over 4.1 million cases, per Johns Hopkins data. However, Brazil has the world's second-highest death toll, with the virus claiming the lives of 126,650 Brazilians.

India has the third-highest death toll, with the novel coronavirus killing 71,642 people as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins.
In the U.S., more than 188,941 people have died from the virus and over 6.2 million have tested positive.

The big picture: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government launched in March the biggest lockdown in the world for the country's 1.3 billion people. But the economy has suffered and businesses have gradually reopened, Bloomberg notes.

The surge in infections come as the capital Delhi reopened its metro system after five months of shutdown, per the BBC.

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India's coronavirus cases surge to second highest in the world

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