India's 161,736 new coronavirus infections are world's highest

NEW DELHI: India reported 161,736 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, hitting the world’s highest daily tally once again, for a total of 13.69 million cases, health ministry data showed.

Deaths rose by 879 to 171,058. Numbers typically fall on Tuesdays because of delayed results from tests done on weekends.

Sensing the worsening situation, the Indian government has allowed the use of the Russian COVID vaccine Sputnik-V for its citizens.

Coronavirus infections in the South Asia sub-region surpassed the grim milestone of 15 million on Saturday, a Reuters tally shows, led by India’s record daily infections and vaccine shortages.

Read more: South Asia surpasses grim milestone of 15 million COVID-19 cases

South Asia – India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka – accounts for 11% of global cases and almost 6% of deaths. The region accounts for 23% of the world’s population of 7.59 billion people.