India has recorded more than 200,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time
INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)
- India reported 200,739 daily new COVID-19 cases and 1,038 deaths on Thursday.
- Mumbai and New Delhi are especially badly hit, with new lockdown measures enforced this week.
- India's vaccine rollout has also been slow.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
India reported more than 200,000 new daily COVID-19 cases for the first time on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
In addition to the 200,739 new cases, India's health ministry said that 1,038 people had died, bringing the total number of deaths to 173,123.
India has now passed the milestone of 14 million total cases, the AP said, and the country is now facing a crisis as cases continue to rise. India has a population of about 1.4 billion people.
As of Thursday, the country has recorded the second-highest COVID-19 cases in the world, behind the United States.
A curfew was imposed in the capital city of New Delhi on Thursday, and local authorities have ordered more than a dozen hotels and wedding halls to be converted into COVID-19 centers linked with city hospitals, the AP said.
Arvind Kejriwal, the city's chief minister, said non-essential shops as well as gyms and entertainment venues must also close.
The state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai - India's largest city - on Wednesday enforced a 15-day partial lockdown in which only essential services could operate, the BBC said.
India has begun its vaccination drive, but progress has been slow.
As of this week around 100 million doses of India's Covishield and Covaxin vaccines have been administered, according to the BBC.
The government plans to have 250 million people vaccinated by July, and this week approved Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for use.
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