Global coronavirus cases approached 27 million on Monday, with India reporting record infections to surpass Brazil as the second hardest-hit country. In Asia, Australia warned of mounting economic pain as Victoria state announced only a gradual easing of its lockdown. Indonesia cases topped 3,000 for a fifth day, with outbreaks in Jakarta and Bali, while South Korea reported the fewest new infections in three weeks. India ’s coronavirus infections surged past 4.2 million on Monday, reporting 4,204,613 infections. It is now nearly 70,000 cases ahead of Brazil, which will post its most recent numbers later on Monday. India, with a daily record 90,802 cases on Monday, also has the fastest-growing caseload. The United States, with more than 6 million cases, remains the worst-affected country. Coronavirus exposes hidden struggles of poor Indonesian-Chinese families Deaths in India have been relatively low so far, but it has posted more than 1,000 deaths for each of the last five days. On Monday, India’s health ministry said 1,016 people died of Covid-19, taking total mortalities to 71,642. More than 1 million cases have been detected in India in less than two weeks. Authorities say India’s daily testing exceeds 1 million now. Dr Randeep Guleria, a government health expert, said India is seeing a resurgence with over 70 per cent of its nearly 1.4 billion people still susceptible to infections. “We could say that we are seeing some sort of a second wave in certain parts of the country.” India’s recovery rate was 77.23 per cent, leading to a decline in fatality rate to around 1.73 per cent, the ministry said. With the economy contracting by a record 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter, leaving millions jobless, the government is continuing to relax restrictions except in high-risk areas. It announced that subway will resume service on Monday after more than five months with restrictions on the number of people on board. Guleria also noted the country is experiencing a Covid-19 behaviour fatigue with many people crowding public places without masks and the streets back to traffic jams. Fewest cases in three weeks in South Korea South Korea added 119 more coronavirus cases, its lowest daily jump in more than three weeks amid a downward trend in new cases. The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday the additional figures took the country’s total to 21,296 with 336 deaths. It’s the fifth straight day the country’s daily jump has stayed under 200. The 119 additional cases are the lowest in kind since mid-August. South Korea’s caseload had risen since early last month, with many associated with churches, restaurants and schools and an anti-government street rally in the greater Seoul area. In late August, South Korea’s daily jump once marked over 400. But the caseload has gradually slowed down, largely thanks to toughened social distancing rules that restricts at dining at restaurants and bans gatherings at churches, night spots, after-school academics and fitness centres. Victoria state sees lowest number of cases in 10 weeks Australia ’s hotspot Victoria state on Monday recorded its lowest count of new Covid-19 cases in more than 10 weeks, reporting 41 news cases and nine deaths in the latest 24-hour period. That was the lowest infection tally since 37 were recorded on June 26 in the early days of the state’s second wave of infections. The state on Sunday announced a slight easing of restrictions in Melbourne that began in early August, but the country’s second-largest city will remain in lockdown until at least October 26. Melbourne, facing third coronavirus wave, extends lockdown The new infections bring the 14-day average in Victoria to 96 a day. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the average would have to be brought below 50 before restrictions can be relaxed. “This is not about eradicating it,” Andrews said. “We will finish up with cases and outbreaks in 2021, but they’ll be of such low numbers that we can probably put the lid on those and not have to put restrictions back on,” Andrews said. Record high in Myanmar Myanmar on Sunday reported 166 confirmed new cases of the coronavirus, topping the previous single-day high of 107 reported on August 31 and bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,419. The total number of dead from the disease has risen to eight after two new deaths were announced over the weekend. Myanmar had its first confirmed case in late March, but a surge in the western state of Rakhine has roughly doubled the total in the past week alone. The government has responded by imposing new lockdowns along with other restrictions in Rakhine and in major urban areas in other parts of the country. In Yangon, police have begun strictly enforcing a late-night curfew implemented several months ago, arresting more than 1,000 people since late last week. Philippines urges vigilance The Philippines reported its lowest number of new daily coronavirus cases in nearly eight weeks on Monday, but officials sought to temper optimism and warned of a prolonged battle as the pandemic rages on. The health ministry confirmed 1,383 new infections, bringing total cases to 238,727, the highest in Southeast Asia, but the least since July 14. It reported 15 new deaths, taking total fatalities to 3,890. Officials warned against complacency as the economy reopens. “This challenge of Covid-19 could extend to next year. First of all, we cannot be complacent and ignore the threat,” Vivencio Dizon, who leads the government’s testing programme, told a news conference. Only three-quarters of testing laboratories submitted results on Monday, however, less than the 82 per cent average in the past week. The Philippines from mid-March to June imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, during which new daily cases were reported in the low hundreds. But infections started soaring soon after, as authorities eased restrictions in a bid to revive the country’s troubled economy. The capital and nearby provinces are still under coronavirus restrictions until end-September, limiting the movement of non-essential personnel and banning social gatherings to prevent more infections. International travel and movement between regions remains restricted. Australia warns economic recovery will be slow Australia’s government warned of mounting economic pain as Victoria state announced only a gradual easing of its coronavirus lockdown that will see retail, hospitality, tourism and entertainment under tight controls across Melbourne until at least the end of October. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is pushing for states to lift border restrictions to help kick-start an economic revival, said the move to extend lockdown measures was “hard and crushing news,” for the people of Victoria. “The proposed road map will come at a further economic cost,” Morrison said. “The continued restrictions will have further impact on the Victorian and national economy, in further job losses and loss of livelihoods, as well as impacting on mental health.” The Business Council of Australia called on Victoria’s premier to move quicker to reopen businesses and get the state economy moving again. The Australian Industry Group called the road map “a document of despair for industry and their employees”. “There will be catastrophic economic, health and social damage caused by the continued lockdown and prospect of more months of sharply diminished activity,” Chief Executive Officer Innes Willox said. Australia strikes deal for two potential vaccines Australia expects to receive its first batches of a potential Covid-19 vaccine in January, with the government striking a deal with CSL Ltd to manufacture two vaccines – one developed by rival AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and another developed in CSL’s own labs with the University of Queensland. “Australia needs some hope,” Morrison said. “Today, we take another significant step to protect the health of Australians against the coronavirus pandemic.” Health Minister Greg Hunt said scientists leading the development of both vaccines have advised that recent evidence suggests both will offer “multi-year protection”. Morrison said CSL is expected to deliver 3.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is currently undergoing late-stage clinical trials in Britain, Brazil and South Africa, in January and February next year. AstraZeneca’s candidate, AZD1222, is viewed as a front runner in the global race to deliver an effective vaccine to combat the virus. Cases surge in Malaysia Malaysia’s health authorities reported 62 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the sharpest spike since early June, just as the government began barring long-term immigration pass holders from countries with high infection numbers. From Monday, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy imposed a ban on pass holders from 23 countries that have reported more than 150,000 Covid-19 cases, in a bid to clamp down on imported cases. Countries on the ban list include the United States, Britain and France. Of the total new cases reported on Monday, 50 were detected in an existing cluster in Sabah state on Malaysian Borneo, stemming from the detention of two undocumented migrants two weeks earlier, the health ministry said. The others were detected in a new cluster in the northern state of Kedah and six arrivals from Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Egypt, the ministry said in a statement. Monday’s new infections were the most since June 4, when 277 cases and one death were reported. Reporting by Bloomberg, Associated Press, Reuters