After reporting the largest single-day spike in cases so far, India has overtaken Russia to become the third worst-hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic. The total number of coronavirus cases in the country stood at 697,413, according to the tally published today by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
India now has the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world after the United States and Brazil, according to the data released by Johns Hopkins University.
According to morning data released by the health ministry, the country registered nearly 25,000 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the biggest daily spike since the outbreak started.
Yesterday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the 1000-bed and 250-ICU unit Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel COVID-19 Hospital in New Delhi. The hospital was developed in a record 12 days by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the Armed Forces and largely funded by Tata Sons.
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fully committed to helping the people in these challenging times and this COVID hospital yet again highlights this resolve.
“I thank DRDO, Tatas and our Armed Forces Medical personnel who have risen to the occasion and helped tackle the emergency," he added.
The country was under the nationwide lockdown since the last week of March to curb the virus spread. Globally, over 11 million people have tested positive for the virus, with over 530,000 deaths reported.
