India extends record rise in Covid-19 cases, election rallies continue

Family members, with help from the municipal staff transfer the bodies of the patients who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease from the ambulance at a crematorium in Bangalore

India extended a record daily run of new Covid-19 infections on Friday, spurred by hundreds of positive tests at a major religious gathering, as politicians pushed ahead with election rallies against advice they could worsen the outbreak. India is battling a massive second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with new restrictions imposed in Mumbai, New Delhi and other cities. There are also growing calls for officials to speed up the country's vaccination programme as hospitals are swamped with patients. The 217,353 new cases reported by the health ministry on Friday marked the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days and took total cases to nearly 14.3 million. India's case count is second only to the United States, which has reported more than 31 million infections. Deaths in India rose by 1,185 over the past 24 hours - the highest single-day rise in seven months - to reach a total of 174,308, the health ministry reported.