India has reported 24,492 new coronavirus cases, the sixth straight day of more than 20,000 infections, as curbs to try to stop the spread of Covid-19 were expanded in parts of the country that have recorded a surge.
Total cases have now risen to 11.41 million, the highest in the world after the United States and Brazil. Deaths increased by 131 to 158,856 in the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed.
The government has blamed crowding and a general reluctance to wear masks for the spike, ruling out mutations of the virus as a factor, unlike in the West, Reuters reported.
