In yet another record high, India registered its biggest surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in one day with 19,906 new patients, taking the total to 5,28,859, the Union Health Ministry said. This is the first time that more than 19,000 fresh cases have been reported in a single day in India which is the fourth worst-hit country in the world after the United States, Brazil and Russia. According to figures, India registered 410 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 16,095.
Guwahati, the gateway to the northeast region, will be placed under complete lockdown from 7pm today for a period of 14 days to arrest the spread of Covid-19, which has been attributed to several people who returned to the state from outside. Announcing the move, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said: “We are now left with no choice but to impose a complete lockdown for 14 days from June 28, and this time it will be very strict as no grocery shops will be allowed to open or supply of vegetables and other essentials will be permitted for the first seven days.” Guwahati Commissioner of Police Munna Prasad Gupta said: “Complete lockdown will be enforced in Guwahati city from 7pm on 28th June for 14 days. Instructions have been issued by the government. Lockdown will be implemented very strictly in view of the pandemic.” The state government will review the lockdown situation in Guwahati after seven days from the enforcement of the restrictions.
Meanwhile, the United States has surpassed 2.5 million coronavirus cases, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed, as the world’s hardest-hit country grappled with a surge of infections in several states. There were 2,500,419 confirmed cases in the US, according to the Baltimore-based university as of 5:30pm.
The country also recorded 43,121 new infections in 24 hours, concluding a week with the most newly reported cases since the start of the pandemic. With an additional 502 deaths recorded Saturday, the US has now seen 125,480 fatalities related to COVID-19, or approximately one-fourth the world total of over 495,000. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Nevada on Saturday reported new records in daily cases.
Florida notched 9,585 cases in 24 hours as infections there spike, after the state’s rapid reopening saw young adults flocking to beaches, boardwalks and bars. More than half of US states, particularly in the South and West, are seeing increases in COVID-19 cases — a dramatic setback to efforts to reopen and salvage badly battered economies. Texas and Florida, which both have Republican governors who resisted prolonged lockdowns, have announced new restrictions on bars.
