Bombay (AFP)

India overtook Brazil on Monday as the second country most affected by Covid-19, recording a new record of more than 168,000 new infections per day.

This vast country of 1.3 billion people has recorded a rapid increase in new infections in recent weeks, bringing the total number of cases to 13.5 million, against 13.48 million recorded in Brazil.

Experts point out that the crowds of individuals who crowd most of the time without a mask, in particular on the occasion of political rallies in states where elections are held, or religious festivals, promote the resurgence of contaminations.

The country has recorded more than 873,000 infections in the past seven days - a 70% increase from the previous week, according to data compiled by AFP.

In comparison, Brazil recorded just over 497,000 cases, with an upward trend of 10% from the previous week.

The most affected country, the United States, has reported just under 490,000 cases, with an upward trend of 9%.

The peak recorded in India, after a dramatic drop to 9,000 daily infections only in early February, has led many severely affected states and territories to impose travel and activity restrictions.

India's richest state, Maharashtra, the main source of contamination, imposed weekend lockdown and a nighttime curfew last week.

But the state, home to the economic capital Bombay, has warned that full containment - a drastic measure that the federal and state governments seek to avoid at all costs to protect the already devastated economy - could be instituted. in the coming days if the contaminations continue to increase.

"The solution is for everyone to stay at home for two months and end this (pandemic) once and for all," said Rohit, 28, a waiter at a popular Mumbai restaurant from the United Kingdom. State of Punjab, in the north of the country.

". But the public is not listening. Nobody follows the rules in the restaurant (...) If we tell customers to wear masks, they are rude and disrespectful to us," he adds.

The chief minister of the Indian capital New Delhi, where a nighttime curfew is currently in effect, said on Sunday that 65% of new Covid-19 patients were under 45 years old.

© 2021 AFP