Bombay (AFP)

One of Bollywood's biggest stars, Akshay Kumar, announced on Sunday that he tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the latest Indian celebrity to contract the virus as the country faces a further rise in cases.

India recorded 93,249 new infections on Sunday, according to figures from the Ministry of Health, the largest increase since September, bringing the number of known cases to nearly 12.5 million.

"I would like to tell you that this morning I tested positive for Covid-19," the 53-year-old actor tweeted, indicating that he was in home quarantine.

Last year, Mr. Kumar said he drank cow's urine daily to stay healthy, a practice that would have medical benefits, especially against the coronavirus, according to some Hindus.

Daily contaminations in this country of 1.3 billion inhabitants have been on the rise since the beginning of February.

They had then fallen below the 9,000 mark, after reaching a peak of nearly 100,000 in September.

India has recorded the third highest infection rate in the world behind the United States and Brazil, although the rate of contamination reported to the population and the number of deaths are considerably lower.

The state of Maharashtra, where Bombay, the financial capital is located, has been the most affected in the country for several weeks.

On Saturday, the megalopolis of 20 million people recorded the highest number of cases in a single day, with 9,090 new infections.

Before Sunday, India had recorded more than 456,000 cases in the past seven days, an increase of 37% from the previous week, according to an AFP database.

In neighboring Bangladesh, authorities announced the establishment of containment from Monday, the country also facing a sharp increase in the number of cases.

On Friday, it announced 6,830 new daily cases, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total of people with the virus to more than 630,000.

Public transport is expected to be at a standstill but factories will remain open, the government said on Saturday evening.

© 2021 AFP