India announced on Monday July 6 that it had identified a total of nearly 700,000 cases of Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic, becoming the third country in the world most affected by the number of infections. According to the Indian Ministry of Health, a total of 697,358 cases of infection with the new coronavirus have been recorded since the start of the pandemic, including some 24,000 in the past 24 hours, for 19,963 deaths.
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Only the United States and Brazil now have more reported cases than India, which passes Russia. The human toll is however much lower for the second most populous country on the planet. Experts believe that the peak of the epidemic will not be reached for several weeks in the South Asian country. The spread of the virus is particularly virulent in the major Indian cities of Bombay, Delhi and Chennai.
To cope with the influx of patients, the Indian capital has opened a gigantic isolation center with a capacity of 10,000 beds, some made of cardboard, in a hall normally dedicated to religious gatherings and requisitioned from hotels and reception halls . Other agglomerations have ordered restructuring measures. Despite the green light from the national authorities, Agra (north) officials decided this weekend to keep the famous Taj Mahal closed, which has been closed to visitors since mid-March, for reasons of health security.