So far, three states – Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu – have accounted for the majority of cases. But in India’s vast countryside, which is much less prepared and with weaker health care, the pandemic is clearly growing.

“The acceleration in cases remains the main challenge for India in the coming days,” said Dr Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, adding that the vast majority of cases were still being missed.

In age of coronavirus, big fat Indian weddings turn intimate

The continuing surge has forced authorities to reinstate lockdowns in some cities and states.

In Bangalore, a city that prides itself as the centre of Indian technology innovation, the government ordered a week-long lockdown that began on Tuesday evening after cases surged exponentially.

In Bihar, an eastern state with a population of 128 million and a fragile health system, a two-week lockdown was announced on Thursday.

In Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state with more than 200 million people, authorities have started placing residents under strict weekend curfews, which will remain in place until the end of the month.

Other local governments are increasingly focusing on smaller lockdowns that shield the economy. Nearly a dozen states have imposed restrictions on “containment zones” – areas that can be as small as a few houses or a street.

Dr Anant Bhan, a global health researcher, said that India was likely to see “a series of peaks” as the infection spread in rural areas. He pointed out that the capital of Delhi and the financial capital, Mumbai, had already seen surges, while infections have now shifted to smaller cities.

03:50

Countries across Asia step up Covid-19 restrictions in fear of new virus wave

Countries across Asia step up Covid-19 restrictions in fear of new virus wave

The city, which last month allowed offices, places of worship, restaurants and shopping malls to reopen in phases with some limits, was set to lift the remaining restrictions on Friday – but will now extend this transition period until July 30, Governor Anies Baswedan said in a YouTube message.

As the home of more than 10 million people, Jakarta has remained one of Indonesia’s virus hotspots with the gradual easing of social distancing rules allowing most economic activities to resume, fuelling a surge in infections. The continuation of curbs may hit a nascent recovery in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, forecast to expand at the slowest pace since the Asian financial crisis.

Indonesia on Friday reported 1,462 new coronavirus infections, bringing total cases to 83,130, the Health Ministry said. The number of fatalities from Covid-19 rose by 84 to 3,957, it said.

Baswedan said ramped up testing and contact tracing had shown that the virus was reproducing faster in the capital than elsewhere, prompting authorities to delay the reopening of cinemas and indoor entertainment venues until conditions improve further.

“We have to be more serious in upholding health protocols,” he said. “All activities must be conducted at half capacity.”

The pandemic has battered Indonesia’s economy, spurring policymakers into action with almost US$50 billion in fiscal stimulus. On Thursday, Bank Indonesia cut its benchmark interest rate for a fourth time this year to bolster economic growth. Jokowi has said the pandemic is having a bigger impact on the nation than the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago.

The Bureau of Immigration banned the entry of foreigners into the country in March to contain the spread of coronavirus. As of Friday, the Philippines had reported 63,001 virus cases and 1,660 related deaths.

Authorities in the state of Victoria, which surrounds Melbourne, said there were 423 new infections in the metropolitan area and five more in rural parts of the state.

The total was higher than any single daily increase in Covid-19 cases for the entire country since late March.

“We have not turned the corner here, worse than that,” said Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton.

Melbourne has been experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections since mid-June, after the rest of the country had successfully contained the epidemic.

The Melbourne outbreak was initially blamed on health and security breaches at hotels where returning international travellers were under quarantine.

Residents in and around greater Melbourne were ordered into a six-week stay-at-home lockdown a week ago in a bid to contain the virus, and officials said they would give those restrictions more time to counter the outbreak before considering tougher measures.

“There is a hope that the numbers stabilise over the coming days,” Sutton said. “[But] no one is being complacent here, and we are all thinking about the additional measures that may be required if it does not turn around.”

Australia’s other states and territories have all closed their borders to people from Victoria in a bid to stop that outbreak from spreading.

But the contagion has already reached Sydney, where there have been growing numbers of locally transmitted Covid-19 cases in recent days after an initial cluster erupted due to an infected person from Melbourne visiting a popular pub.

Nationwide, Australia has reported just over 11,000 cases of Covid-19 out of a population of some 25 million, with 116 deaths.

Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, Agence France-Presse