944 more die in India from virus, tally nears 50,000

India’s coronavirus fatalities neared 50,000 with 944 new deaths reported in the past 24 hours. India now has the fourth-highest fatalities, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

India’s confirmed virus patients reached 2.58 million on Sunday with a spike of 63,490. August has seen a big spike in fatalities with more than a quarter of the country’s total in the past 15 days. Meanwhile, India’s recovery rate crossed 70 percent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday that three vaccines are in different phases of testing and mass production will begin as soon as scientists give the green light.-AP