MUMBAI: India's worst-hit state Maharashtra, including its capital Mumbai, will be under a nightly curfew from Sunday following a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, officials said.
India as a whole has a seen a renewed surge in new infections in recent weeks, dashing hopes at the start of the year that the country of 1.3 billion people had beaten the pandemic.
Maharashtra in western India, home to around 110 million people, has seen the biggest rise, recording on Thursday more than 35,000 new infections in 24 hours, the highest yet.
Mumbai recorded over 5,500 cases on Friday, almost doubling its highest daily count of last year.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray warned Friday of even stricter restrictions if people do not follow guidelines on social distancing and mask-wearing, local media quoted him as saying.
"I have no intention of imposing a lockdown, but given the growing number of patients, there is a possibility that the health facilities that we have set up on a large scale across the state will also be reduced," Thackeray said.
India has recorded almost 12 million infections, the third highest behind the United States and Brazil, although per capita rates and the number of fatalities are considerably lower.
The renewed jump in cases has prompted India, which many other poorer countries were relying on for supplies including through the Covax initiative, to put the brakes on exports of vaccines.
Indian COVID-19 hotspot state announces curfew
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Indian COVID-19 hotspot state announces curfew
- The federal government has already announced everyone older than 45 will be eligible for vaccination from April 1
Maduro arrives in New York after capture by US
- The 63-year-old leader was to be taken first to the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, then to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, according to US media
NEWBURGH, United States: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived Saturday evening at a military base in the United States and was transferred to New York City, after his capture by US forces in Caracas.
FBI agents surrounded Maduro as he descended from a US government plane and slowly escorted him along the tarmac at a National Guard facility in New York state.
The leftist leader was then flown by helicopter to Manhattan, where a large law enforcement contingent awaited, AFP images showed.
The 63-year-old leader was to be taken first to the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, then to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, according to US media.
The detention center is the same jail where rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was held throughout his trial last year.
Maduro and his wife are to be arraigned at an unspecified date before a judge in New York. They have been charged with “narco-terrorism,” importing tons of cocaine into the United States, and possession of illegal weapons.
