India records 400,000 COVID-19 cases in a day for first time as surge worsens

Published May 01 2021 at 2:55 PM GMT

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India surpassed 400,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period for the first time on Saturday, marking yet another global daily infection record.
The country recorded 3,523 deaths during the same span, which experts believe to be an undercount, Al Jazeera reports.
Additionally, a fire broke out in a COVID-19 hospital ward in western India, reportedly killing 16 patients and two staff members.
As the surge worsens, several countries, including the United States, have restricted travel from India.
The U S, which has also been delivering pandemic-related supplies to the country, will officially implement the travel ban on May 4 "in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating" there, the White House confirmed Friday.