Delhi sets new COVID-19 deaths record

Delhi’s COVID-19 deaths rose by a record high on Thursday and it also reported the most number of infections in India, an increase attributed to the city’s toxic air and a lack of physical distancing in public places around a major festival.

While daily case additions have come down significantly in the country as a whole since a mid-September peak.

The capital city of 20 million people is going through its worst phase in the pandemic.

Data from the health ministry early on Friday showed that infections in the country rose by 44,789 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 8.73 million, only behind the US tally.

India’s deaths increased by 547 to 128,668.

However, the Delhi high court on Thursday ordered 33 of the city’s private hospitals to reserve 80% of their critical-care beds for coronavirus patients