India’s cases surge to 4.3m; UK set to tighten curbs

Agencies
Disruptions to health services due to the pandemic are putting millions of additional lives at risk worldwide, the United Nations said yesterday, warning that Covid-19 could reverse decades of progress in reducing child mortality.

The past 30 years have seen remarkable strides forward in preventing or treating causes of infant deaths including premature births and pneumonia.

New mortality estimates published by the UN's children's fund UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group found that 2019 saw the lowest number of global under-five deaths on record.

Last year around 5.2 million children died due to preventable illness, compared with 12.5 million in 1990.

But it warned that the pandemic risked undoing all this by cutting routine child and maternal health services.

A UNICEF survey across 77 countries found 68 percent reported at least some disruption in child health checks and immunisations.

The pandemic has killed at least 898,503 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year. More than 27.6 million cases have been confirmed.

The United States has the most deaths with 189,698, followed by Brazil with 127,464, India with 73,890, Mexico with 68,484 and Britain 41,586.

India reported 89,706 new coronavirus infections yesterday, taking its total caseload to 4.3 million, data from the federal health ministry showed.

The South Asian nation has the highest number of coronavirus infections outside of the United States, reporting the largest single-day increases in cases every day for more than a month. It's death rate has remained relatively low, but is starting to show signs of rising, with more than 1,000 deaths reported daily for eight days straight.

In Britain, the government announces a tightening of rules on social gatherings amid concern at rising infection rates, particularly among young people.

The law in England will change from next week to reduce the number of people who can gather socially from 30 to six, with some exemptions.