India passes three million Covid-19 cases

India’s coronavirus cases have passed three million, with the country reporting the world’s biggest daily jump in new infections as the disease continues to spread from cities to rural areas.

Health authorities reported 69,239 new cases and 912 deaths, bringing the total to 3,044,940. The number of new infections reported on Sunday marked a sharp decline from the previous 18 days, when India had reported more than 60,000 cases daily.

The number of new cases has reached a plateau in the capital New Delhi and the financial center of Mumbai, where serological surveys used to measure the extent of disease in a population show the virus has achieved widespread prevalence.

The virus is marching through rural areas in northern India, assisted by high poverty rates and minimal health resources, and in southern states, where the population is wealthier but also older.

India has the third-highest number of cases after the United States and Brazil, and its 56,706 fatalities are the fourth-highest in the world.