New Delhi (AFP)

India surpassed the six million officially listed coronavirus cases on Monday, the Indian Ministry of Health said.

With 6.1 million cases, India could in the coming weeks overtake the United States (7.2 million) to become the country in the world with the most infections recorded.

India is one of the countries of greatest concern to experts, due to its very large population - 1.3 billion people - and the fact that it has some of the most densely populated cities in the world, with a of fragile health.

The country officially registers 80,000 to 90,000 new cases each day, the strongest increases in the world for several weeks.

When it comes to deaths, India has a much lower rate than other worst-affected countries.

It officially has nearly 100,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic while the United States, with roughly a quarter of its population, has 205,000.

Brazil has 140,000.

- "Weapons against the coronavirus" -

"These rules are weapons in the war against the coronavirus. They are powerful tools to save the life of every citizen," Modi said in his monthly radio address.

Large metropolises like Bombay and Delhi were the first to be affected by the virus.

But it has spread to regions and rural areas, where health infrastructure is less developed.

"The infection is spreading in several areas where transmission is active," former Minister of Health Sujatha Rao told AFP.

"It is difficult to control transmission in such a situation and a radical turn may only be possible with the rigorous application of containment and preventive measures such as wearing a mask."

But despite this progression of the epidemic, it is unlikely that the government will decide on a new containment, the first imposed in March having plagued the country's economy.

On the contrary, it keeps lifting the restrictions.

Some schools have reopened.

Trains, subways, domestic flights, markets and restaurants can now operate normally and the Taj Mahal reopened to tourists a week ago.

"The epidemic is well established in the population," Anand Krishnan, professor at the country's most prestigious public body, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, told AFP.

"The only thing to do is take care of sick people, identify them faster and treat them better. And follow the standards of social distancing."

Some Delhi residents told AFP their concerns about the virus were no longer as strong as before.

"I'm away from home all day for my job. But otherwise, I don't leave my house," said Umang Chutani, 23, who works in a pharmacy.

Himanshu Kainthola, 61, who was ill with Covid-19 disease last month but has since recovered, also explains that concerns have "dropped a lot" in his family.

"We made it right. We take the necessary precautions and seek to increase our immunity rather than let ourselves be overcome by fear."

Santosh, a student, says the virus is now "part of our lives".

"We cannot close all businesses because we must not let the economy collapse (...). It is not the Covid-19 that will pay the rent," he told AFP.

© 2020 AFP