India counts 60,000 new coronavirus cases

India has reported more than 60,000 new infections in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total to 3.17 million.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday also reported 848 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 58,390.

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Meanwhile, India’s recovery rate has reached nearly 76% as more than 2.4 million people affected by the virus have been discharged from hospitals. The Health Ministry said that 66,550 patients — the highest in a day — recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours.

The Health Ministry said the country’s COVID-19 tests per million has risen sharply to 26,016 as cumulative tests surged to nearly 36 million.

The Health Ministry said that 66,550 patients — the highest in a day — recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours.

In June, India began using cheaper, faster but less accurate tests to scale up testing. Authorities have rationed the use of the more precise molecular tests that detect the genetic code of the virus. Nearly a third of the tests India is using now are the less accurate ones that screen for antigens, or viral proteins. They require frequent retesting, which isn’t always happening.

India’s infections are fast moving beyond cities and spreading further into smaller towns. Even as western Maharashtra state and three southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka remain the worst-hit regions, new surges are being recorded in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states in India’s north.

Beijing universities are preparing to administer virus tests to students returning to the city’s campuses.

The cost of testing all 600,000 students will be born by the universities themselves, according to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.

New surges are being recorded in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states in India’s north.

University classes are scheduled to begin Sept. 9. Roughly 75 percent of Chinese students in lower grades returned to class as of last month, many on staggered schedules. The rest are expected to return by this week or on Sept. 1.

China’s National Health Commission on Tuesday reported no new local infections for a ninth straight day and said 14 new cases were found in travelers arriving from abroad. The northwestern city of Urumqi, the center of China’s most recent major outbreak, was relaxing restrictions on some residential compounds after several days of no new local infections.

Australian hot spot Victoria state has recorded an increase in new coronavirus cases, although health authorities are confident infections are continuing to trend down.

Victoria’s Health Department on Tuesday reported 148 new COVID-19 infections in the latest 24-hour period and eight deaths. Victoria reported 116 new cases and 15 deaths on Tuesday. That was the lowest daily tally of new cases since 87 were reported on July 5. The daily count has been as high as 725 news cases in early August.

State capital Melbourne is around half way through a six-week lockdown.