India reported a record spike in coronavirus infections on Thursday, just days before its nationwide lockdown is set to expire.
The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare registered 6,566 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 158,333. There were also 194 deaths from the disease reported over the same period, placing the national toll at 4,531.
Mumbai, India’s financial hub and most populous city, is the epicenter of the country’s novel coronavirus outbreak, with more than 33,000 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 1,200 deaths.
India’s two-month-old lockdown is slated to end Sunday, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to be preparing a new set of coronavirus-related guidelines to be issued this weekend.
Modi’s government began easing restrictions earlier this month, allowing shops and factories to reopen as well as some trains and domestic flights to resume. Hotels, metro services, restaurants and schools have remained closed nationwide.
