New Delhi: India went past Russia on Sunday to become the third worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic with the country’s tally of infections crossing 6.90 lakh, according to Worldometer.
Only the US and Brazil are ahead of India in terms of total coronavirus infections. Russia has 6,81,251 infections while Brazil has 15,78,376 and the US has 29,54,999 cases, according to Worldometer which compiles the COVID-19 data from around the globe.
According to a PTI tally, India’s COVID-19 case load soared to 6,90,349 while the death toll climbed to 19,683. However, the Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which has also been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, put Russia’s infection tally at 6,80,283 and India’s 6,73,165, which is the official figure updated at 8 am.
The health ministry data updated at 8 am showed a record single-day surge of 24,850 coronavirus infections and 613 fatalities pushing India’s total number of cases to 6,73,165 and the death toll to 19,268 on Sunday. The country has registered over 20,000 COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row. With a steady rise, the number of recoveries stands at 4,09,082 in the country while one patient has migrated. There are 2,44,814 active coronavirus cases in the country, the data at 8 am showed. The number of recovered cases exceeded that of the active cases by 1,64,268 as of Sunday, the health ministry said.
“Thus, 60.77 per cent of the patients have recovered so far,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Sunday accused the government of “wasting” the lockdown by not ramping up health infrastructure and procuring “substandard” ventilators that are crucial for critical COVID-19 patients, with Rahul Gandhi charging that “opacity” in the PM Cares Fund is putting lives of Indians at risk.
Using the hashtag “BJPfailsCoronaFight”, Gandhi tweeted, “PMCares opacity is: 1. Putting Indian lives at risk. 2. Ensuring public money is used to buy sub-standard products.” He also tagged a news report about a private firm providing substandard ventilators, procured using the PM Cares Fund.
The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund was set up in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged a “scam” in the purchase of ventilators.
“The ‘Ventilators’ Scam! Out of Rs 2,000 crore allocated for 50,000 ventilators, only 1,340 ventilators delivered till 23rd June. No open tendering. Inferior Quality. Purchase Price of Rs 4 Lakh instead of quoted price of Rs 1.5 Lakh per ventilator,” he said in a tweet. (PTI)
