India reports record 40,425 new coronavirus cases

Indian police stop motorists on a street after a new lockdown was imposed as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus in Siliguri on July 19, 2020. (AFP)

• India has been conducting nearly 10,000 tests per million people

NEW DELHI: India reported more than 40,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, a record high for the country.
The 40,425 new cases raised India’s total to 1,118,043, including 27,497 deaths.
The ministry said late Sunday that India’s coronavirus fatality rate — currently at 2.49 percent — is “progressively falling” due to an effective containment strategy and aggressive testing.
A country of 1.4 billion people, India has been conducting nearly 10,000 tests per million people. More than 300,000 samples are being tested every day now, compared to just a few hundred in March, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s top medical research body.
With a surge in infections in the past few weeks, local governments in India have been ordering focused lockdowns in high-risk areas.