INDIA CORNAVIRUS CASES TOP 7M

India said its coronavirus cases have exceeded the 7 million mark, becoming the only second country to reach the grim milestone after the United States, Kyodo News reported.

The world's second-most populous country now has 7,053,806 confirmed cases, with deaths totaling 108,334, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Its cases exceeded the 7 million mark after logging 74,383 new cases over a 24-hour period.

India reported on Sept. 28 that its confirmed cases had exceeded 6 million and on Sept. 16 that they surpassed 5 million.

The United States still leads the world with over 7.7 million confirmed cases and more than 214,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

About half of India's total confirmed cases have been in the western state of Maharashtra, the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh and two other states in the south.

The central government imposed a nationwide lockdown from late March to the end of May and has been easing restrictions in stages since June.

However, the lockdown remains in place for designated COVID-19 containment zones until Oct. 31.