India reports record 40,425 new coronavirus cases

India reported more than 40,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, a record high for the country.

The 40,425 new cases raised India's total to 1,118,043, including 27,497 deaths.

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The ministry said late Sunday that India’s coronavirus fatality rate — currently at 2.49% — is "progressively falling” due to an effective containment strategy and aggressive testing.

A country of 1.4 billion people, India has been conducting nearly 10,000 tests per million people. More than 300,000 samples are being tested every day now, compared to just a few hundred in March, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s top medical research body.

Relatives use ropes to lower the body of a person who died of COVID-19 at a cemetery in New Delhi, India. File/AP

With a surge in infections in the past few weeks, local governments in India have been ordering focused lockdowns in high-risk areas.

China says it arrested 5,370 people for various forms of illegal activity related to the coronavirus pandemic between January and June.

More than 40% were charged with fraud, the state prosecutor’s office announced Monday on its official microblog. Another 15% were charged with obstruction of law enforcement, with others accused of producing and selling fake and shoddy goods, creating public disturbances and transporting and selling endangered species.

China has strengthened protection for wild animals following the emergence of the virus, which has been linked to a wet market in the city of Wuhan and is believed to have possibly originated among bats before jumping to humans via an intermediary species such as the anteater-like pangolin.

Associated Press