India winning a race nobody wants to win

India reported 24,492 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the sixth straight day of more than 20,000 infections taking the infection tally to 1.14 cr.

The total cases have now risen to 11.41 million, the highest in the world after the United States and Brazil. Deaths increased by 131 to 158,856 in the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed.

Crowding and an overall reluctance to wear masks in public places are blamed for the spike in cases. The worst affected state is Maharashtra has ordered to limit the number of people on all social gatherings such as cinemas, weddings, hotels and restaurants. Some districts in Maharashtra already went under lockdown.

Gujarat officials have already decided to curb the infection rate by not allowing fans in the stadium for international matches between India and England.

The initial matches were attended by tens of thousands of people sitting or standing shoulder to shoulder, with few wearing masks, leading to widespread criticism on social media.

India has vaccinated nearly 26 million people since beginning its inoculation campaign in mid-January. The country aims to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people by August.