India On Track To Surpass U.S. As Country Worst Affected By COVID-19

With nearly 98,000 new coronavirus cases confirmed Thursday, India again broke the record for the highest daily tally of infections for any country since the pandemic began. It is on track, within weeks, to become the worst-affected country in the world.

On Wednesday, India's total caseload surpassed 5 million — a number only the United States had so far exceeded. The U.S. still has more cases overall, some 6.6 million. But India is where the virus is spreading fastest. The country confirmed 1 million new infections in the past 11 days alone.

Cases had plateaued in Mumbai and New Delhi, India's two biggest cities, in recent weeks. But they are climbing again, and spreading fast as well in smaller towns and rural areas, where health care is already scant.