MUMBAI • Bollywood star Akshay Kumar said on Sunday he tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the latest Indian celebrity to contract the virus as the vast nation battles a new wave of cases.
India yesterday reported a record rise in coronavirus infections, becoming the second country after the United States to register more than 100,000 new cases per day, as hospitals in Maharashtra – its worst-hit state – are overrun with patients.
“I want to let everyone know that earlier this morning I tested positive for Covid-19,” the 53-year-old actor tweeted.
Kumar said last year that he drank cow’s urine every day to stay healthy – a practice some Hindus believe has medical benefits, including against the coronavirus.
He tweeted that he was in home quarantine and had “sought necessary medical attention”.
Indian spin star Axar Patel also announced last Saturday that he had tested positive and was in isolation before the start of the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League tournament. The news came just a day after Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar said he was hospitalized as a precaution after testing positive a week earlier.
The country’s daily infections have jumped about twelve times since their multi-month low in early February, when authorities relaxed most restrictions and people largely stopped wearing masks and moving away. of the society.
More infectious variants of the virus may also have played a role in the second outbreak, some epidemiologists say.
With 103,558 new infections, India has reported 12.6 million cases, the highest after the United States and Brazil, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
India recorded the highest number of infections over the past week globally. The death toll jumped by 478, still one of the lowest death rates in the world, bringing the total to 165,101.
FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY, REUTERS
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