Mumbai
India has recorded 45,576 new cases of the coronavirus health ministry data showed on Thursday, taking total infections in the country to 8.96 million.
The South Asian nation has the world’s second-highest number of COVID-19 infections, after the United States, but cases have been falling since hitting a peak in September.
Deaths rose by 585, with the total now at 131,578, the ministry said. The city government of national capital New Delhi said it was working to increase the number of beds in hospital intensive care units, as fears abound of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases after the Diwali festival.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought the federal government’s approval to shut down city markets, which are likely hotspots for the deadly virus.
His government has also increased the fine for not wearing masks to 2,000 rupees ($26.95) from the previous 500 rupees.
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, which has reported 192,000 COVID-19 cases so far, the government will impose a night curfew in Ahmedabad city from Friday.
The curfew, which begins at 9:00 p.m. and ends at 6:00 a.m., will be in force until further notice, said Rajiv Kumar Gupta, the senior government official in charge of managing COVID-19 in Ahmedabad.
German police on Wednesday fired water cannon to disperse thousands of unmasked protesters who had massed in central Berlin to demonstrate against government measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.
After repeated warnings for the crowd to put on face coverings went unheeded, police said they would take action to clear the protest and “detain violators”.
Around 5,000 activists massed at the Brandenburg Gate, after the German government banned rallies outside parliament because of fears of violence.
The demonstration mirrored similar protests seen across Europe against restrictions opponents see as a violation of their civil rights despite government warnings about the need to stop the spread of infections.
Organisers in Berlin accused the government of trying to establish a “dictatorship” with shutdown measures that were tightened this month to slow infection rates.
Demonstrators carried posters showing German political leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel in prison garb and emblazoned with the word “guilty”.
Achim Ecker, a demonstrator in his 50s who travelled to Berlin from neighbouring Brandenburg state, said the government was exaggerating the dangers posed by the pandemic.
“We don’t need emergency measures,” he said. “I believe in our own immune systems.” In online chatrooms, activists have compared the government measures to the Enabling Act of 1933 which gave Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s government dictatorial powers.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeting: “Those who make such disgraceful comparisons mock the victims of National Socialism and show they have learned nothing from history.”—Reuters
