COVID-19: India’s death toll nears 100,000

CHANDIGARH, India

India’s coronavirus-linked deaths are nearing 100,000 as the country saw 1,095 more deaths on Friday, according to Health Ministry figures.

According to a ministry update, as of Friday morning 81,484 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 6.39 million.

With 1,095 additional deaths reported, the total death toll has reached 99,773.

The ministry tweeted on Friday morning that the country has "crossed a landmark milestone" as "active cases have been sustained below the 10L [one million] mark for 10 days in an unbroken chain."

"Higher number of daily recoveries and persistently dipping mortality rate across the States/UTs [union territories] are resulting in lower number of Active Cases on a daily basis," the ministry said in a tweet.

In another tweet, it said: “With high levels of RECOVERIES (more than 52L), India is its global position as the country with maximum number of Recovered #COVID19 patients."

Under new guidelines India issued this week for opening up more activities, movie theatre multiplexes will be permitted to open with up to 50% of their seating capacity from Oct. 15.

India imposed a nationwide lockdown in March to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country, bringing the country to a grinding halt. In June, the country started opening up to economic activities in phases.

While India has lately increased the number of testing on a daily basis, a survey published in a medical journal last month estimated that the country had 6.4 million infections three months ago. The revelations of the survey indicate that fewer tests were done earlier in the country.

This week another survey found that around 7% of the country's adult population may have been exposed to the virus through August, local media reported.

Experts in the country say that India may even surpass the US – the worst-affected country worldwide – in the severity of the pandemic.