Second COVID surge grips India on ‘people’s curfew’ anniversary

India has reported 46,951 new coronavirus cases, its worst single-day rise since early November, and 212 new COVID-19 deaths, the most since early January. On Monday, total deaths in the country stood at 159,967 and infections at 11.65 million, the highest in the world after the United States and Brazil. The grim figures came on the first anniversary of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi called a “Janta curfew” (people’s curfew), marking the start of a chaotic nationwide lockdown last year that left many people jobless and shrank the economy.