India records highest daily virus deaths

NEW DELHI

India reported the highest daily figure for deaths due to the coronavirus on Wednesday, the country's Health Ministry said.

With 4,529 new deaths, the nationwide tally has reached 283,248.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country's top research body, said that 2,008,296 people were tested on Tuesday. So far, more than 320 million samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the country.

Over the past day, 267,334 new cases were registered on Wednesday, which is below the 300,000 mark for the third consecutive day. The overall case-count has crossed 25.49 million.

At least 270 doctors have died nationwide in the latest wave of the pandemic, said the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Meanwhile, Singapore's Foreign Ministry has dismissed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s claim about a COVID-19 variant in the Southeast Asian city-state.

Kejriwal on Tuesday tweeted: “The new form of COVID-19 that has come to Singapore is being said to be extremely dangerous for children. In India it may come as a third wave."

He had also asked the government to suspend air services with Singapore immediately.