India surges in cases as virus slams US hospitals

India on Monday became the country with the third-highest coronavirus caseload in the world, as officials warned that hospitals in the United States were in danger of being overwhelmed by a surge in infections.

Despite signs of progress in parts of Europe -- where the Louvre museum in Paris reopened on Monday -- total global infections are fast approaching 11.5 million, with more than 533,000 deaths, since the pandemic first emerged in China late last year.  

The Indian government, like many around the world, has gradually lifted virus restrictions to help the battered economy, but the number of cases has continued to climb, with 24,000 reported in 24 hours to take the total to nearly 700,000 on Monday.  

India’s major cities including New Delhi and Mumbai are the hardest-hit, and critics say too few tests are being conducted and that many COVID-19 infections are likely to go undiagnosed.  

The surge has forced authorities in India to convert hotels, wedding halls, a spiritual centre and even railway coaches to help provide care to coronavirus patients.  

And in Australia, where the virus outbreak had largely been brought under control, a new spike in cases in Melbourne forced authorities to effectively seal off the state of Victoria from the rest of the country.  

There was an illustration of the lingering threat of the virus in Fiji, with the Pacific nation confirming Monday its 78-day run without any cases had ended with a 66-year-old man testing positive.  

Across the world, governments are struggling to balance the need to reopen economies wrecked by weeks of lockdown measures against the risk of new infections as people return to normal life.  

In Europe -- once the hardest hit region -- the pandemic appears more under control though officials have ordered new local lockdowns in Spain’s northwestern Galicia and another northeastern town to curb fresh outbreaks.  

The Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, reopened on Monday with nearly a third of its galleries shut and crowding banned around the “Mona Lisa” and other masterpieces.  
 “It is very important that cultural establishments can welcome the public because we need it,” said Arzel Bertrand, visiting from a town southeast of Paris.
AFP, 06TH JULY, 2020