India Reports Over 300,000 New COVID-19 Cases Again: "Spread Soon to Peak"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in India has surpassed 300,000, soaring to the highest level in eight months.

The highly transmissible Omicron variant is spreading from major cities like New Delhi and Mumbai to small and medium-sized cities, but some forecasts suggest the spread will peak within this month.

According to statistics from the Indian Ministry of Health on the 20th (local time), the number of new daily cases in India was recorded at 317,532 as of that morning.

This is the first time in eight months since mid-May last year that India's new daily cases have exceeded 300,000.

India experienced a sharp surge last May, with new daily cases exceeding 410,000, but the spread slowed down afterward, dropping to 5,326 cases on the 21st of last month.

However, with the widespread spread of the new Omicron variant, the number of new cases increased about 60 times within a month. Experts believe that in major cities where the Omicron variant was first introduced through overseas travelers, the spread has already reached its peak.

A Mumbai official told the Times of India on the same day, "The number of new cases in Mumbai is expected to drop below 1,000 by the end of this month."

However, the proportion of infections in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas has more than doubled in ten days, indicating that the spread from major cities is moving to smaller cities.

Nevertheless, experts predict that this spread trend will soon subside following the major cities. Professor Manindra Agrawal of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) said, "The spread in India is expected to peak on the 23rd," adding that the total number of new cases nationwide is unlikely to exceed 400,000 even at its highest point.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.