MUMBAI • India, the country hardest hit in Asia by the coronavirus pandemic, reported a record daily jump in infections yesterday, taking its total number of cases to over two million, as the government struggled to contain the spread amid striking health workers.

More than 3.5 million health workers, who have been the foot soldiers in Covid-19 detection efforts across India, embarked on a two-day strike from yesterday to secure better wages and proper protective equipment.

"At least 100 health workers have died of Covid-19 in the country so far, but there has been no insurance provided to them by the government," said Ms A.R. Sindhu, secretary of the Centre of Trade Unions, a key participant in the ongoing strike.

With infections spreading further to smaller towns and rural areas, experts say the epidemic in India is likely to be months away from hitting its peak, putting more strain on an already overburdened healthcare system in a country of 1.3 billion people.

India is the third nation to pass the unwanted milestone of two million Covid-19 cases, behind only the United States and Brazil.

India has been posting an average of around 50,000 new cases a day since mid-June, but experts say its testing rate at 16,035 per million people is far too low.

"A country of India's size and diversity has multiple epidemics in different phases," said Dr Rajib Dasgupta, head of the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Separately, Japan also set a new daily record yesterday, with 1,584 cases. Tokyo registered 462 cases, just shy of its peak of 472 last week, while Osaka's 255 infections and Okinawa's 100 infections were new daily highs.

REUTERS