Coronavirus India Updates: Active Cases Likely To Fall Below 9 Lakh; Over 1.05 Lakh Dead

Active coronavirus cases in India continued to fall, in a positive turn for the country with the second most cases in the world, as fresh infections remained below the 80,000-mark.

India added over 78,000 fresh cases in 24 hours taking the total tally past 68.3 lakh in Asia’s third-largest economy, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Oct. 8. This includes over 1.05 lakh deaths and 58.2 lakh patients who have recovered.

The central government is pushing its fifth phase of ‘Unlock India’ which includes partial reopening of schools and multiples starting Oct. 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the first phase of reopening the economy in May. The country, already having contracted nearly 24% in the April-June quarter, is headed for a rare annual contraction too.

Global Update

China joined a World Health Organization-backed initiative to ensure everyone across the globe is inoculated against Covid-19, without saying how much money it plans to put into the $18 billion project. Indonesia reported the highest increase of new cases since the start of the pandemic.

Globally, coronavirus cases have topped 36.4 million with 1.06 million of them dead as of Friday morning.

Track the latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic in India, here.