An Indian villager and a child wearing masks ride on a bicycle on the outskirts of Gauhati, India (Anupam Nath/AP)The number of daily coronavirus infections in India has dipped below 100,000 for the first time in more than two months as an overall downturn prompted some states to ease restrictions. The 86,498 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India’s total past 29 million on Tuesday, second only to the United States, which has more than 33 million. The Health Ministry also reported 2,123 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 351,309. India peaked at adding more than 400,000 cases a day in May, but new infections and deaths have declined across the country since then. The downturn has led some states to ease restrictions on commercial activities to spur consumption.

Source: Irish Independent June 08, 2021 06:45 UTC