India adds over 83,000 cases, nears 5 million

People wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus shop for vegetables in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. India’s coronavirus cases are now the second-highest in the world and only behind the United States. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

NEW DELHI — India confirmed more than 83,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing its total caseload to nearly 5 million.

The Health Ministry also reported 1,054 new deaths, driving total fatalities up to 80,776.

With 4.93 million confirmed cases, India has the second-highest total in the world after the U.S. Infections have maintained an upward surge amid ease in coronavirus restrictions nationwide. More than 600,000 new cases have been confirmed in the last week alone.

Maharashtra, with more than 1 million cases, remains the worst-affected state in India, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

India, however, also has the highest number of recovered patients in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University. The country’s recovery rate stands at 77.8%, with nearly 3.8 million people recovering from the virus so far, according to the Health Ministry.

India’s Parliament, which reopened Monday after being shut down for more than five months due to the coronavirus, said that more than 10 million migrant laborers had made their way back to their home states from various corners of the country during a strict nationwide lockdown. It said there was no data available for the number of migrant deaths.

A flood of migrant workers, out of money and fearing starvation, poured out of cities and headed back to villages when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the nationwide lockdown on March 24. The unprecedented migration was one key reason that the virus spread to the far reaches of the country.

The lockdown also caused a severe economic crisis. India’s economy contracted nearly 24% in the second quarter, the worst among the world’s top economies.