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India’s daily coronavirus infections hit six-month high

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 India’s daily coronavirus infections hit another record on Saturday for the highest tally since September, while daily deaths reached a five-month high, a Reuters count based on data from the health ministry showed.

The south Asian nation recorded 89 129 new infections and 714 deaths, the ministry said. That was the biggest single-day rise since September 20 last year and the most deaths since October 21, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have surged in India since the beginning of March, with its richest state of Maharashtra, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, the worst hit.

Late on Friday, the state’s chief minister warned of a full lockdown to curb infections if people did not limit their movements.

India reports new variant

In March, India detected a new “double mutant variant” of the novel coronavirus.

Genome sequencing and analysis of samples from Maharashtra state found mutations in the virus that do not match previously cataloged “variants of concern” (VOC),  the country’s health ministry said in a statement. Maharashtra is one of India’s worst-affected states but the ministry said it was not clear if the new variant was causing an upsurge there or in other states.

“Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish a direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some states,” the ministry said in a statement.

It did not elaborate. India has already reported several cases of a variant first detected in Britain, as well as ones first found in South Africa and Brazil.

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