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NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday (September 22) reported its lowest daily COVID-19 case count in nearly a month as it prepares for clinical trials of a potential Russian vaccine in the coming weeks.
Federal health data showed 75,083 new cases in the last 24 hours and 1,053 deaths during the same period.
READ: Exhausted Indian Doctors Fight Rising COVID-19 Cases
There have been 5.6 million cases in total in the country, second only to the United States. The total death toll is 88,935 people.
Despite the drop in cases on Tuesday, India consistently reports the highest daily case count worldwide, as a dense population and often rudimentary healthcare infrastructure hamper attempts to control the pandemic.
People stroll along the Marine Drive promenade in Mumbai, India, on September 22, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / Niharika Kulkarni)
On Tuesday, Indian pharmacist Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd said it could begin testing of a late-stage vaccine in the coming weeks.
Indian trials of the Sputnik-V candidate vaccine, which is being developed by Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, will enroll between 1,000 and 2,000 participants and will be conducted at various government and private hospitals across the country, Deepak Sapra, CEO of Dr Reddy’s API and Pharmaceutical Services. he told Reuters.
READ: World records weekly record number of COVID-19 cases, deaths decline: WHO
“We want to get to the first step, which is the beginning of the clinical trials by obtaining the necessary approvals from the Indian regulators, in the next few weeks,” Sapra said.
After a three-month shutdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given states more powers than ever to reopen shops, offices and public transport.
A health official takes a COVID-19 nasal swab sample from a child at a hospital in Amritsar, India, on September 21, 2020 (Photo: AFP / Narinder Nanu)
But the pandemic continues to have an effect on the economy, which contracted by a quarter in the three months to June, the largest figure on record.
Popular Indian gaming and entertainment center operator Smaaash Entertainment is shutting down, Reuters reported Tuesday, as few choose to hang out in its arcades amid rising coronavirus cases.
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