As India reported a new daily record of nearly 20,000 new coronavirus infections, several states have reimpose partial or full lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus. India's health ministry recorded 548,318 COVID-19 total cases as of Monday, a jump of nearly 100,000 cases in a week in the world's fourth-worst affected country after the United States, Brazil and Russia. India's death toll has reached 16,475, while 321,723 patients have recovered from the disease. The capital district of the northeastern state of Assam on the Bangladesh border has reimposed a full lockdown until July 12 following a spike in cases. Another border state, West Bengal, has extended its lockdown until July 31. However, in India's worst-affected states, Maharashtra which includes India's financial capital, Mumbai, and Delhi, home to the federal capital of New Delhi, most of the country's lockdown restrictions have been eased, with restaurants, shopping malls and parks reopened, and public buses and shared-ride services back on the roads. North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in central India have started a door-to-door survey joining other states and union territories to trace the COVID-19 patients. Amid this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the country has swiftly entered the 'unlock stage' from 'lockdown stage', adding that people have to remain more vigilant in the "unlock" period and cautioned that failure to follow COVID-19 norms will put at risk their lives and those of others. The prime minister has also said that India will have to focus on defeating coronavirus and bolstering the economy. — Agencies
