Ahead of 'Unlock 1.0', India registers nearly 10,000 Covid-19 cases a day

The new phase is especially challenging for the five worst-affected states, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total confirmed Covid cases and over 78 per cent of Covid deaths in the country.

After the fourth round of lockdown that ended on May 31, the Centre announced a phased opening of businesses. While ‘Unlock 1.0’ will kick in from Monday with malls, hotels, and restaurants restarting across many cities, the past one week saw traffic building up on city roads, neighbourhood markets buzzing,  and office attendance inching up. 

During the week-long curtain-raiser to India unlocking, new Covid-19 cases have been on an upward trajectory. In terms of absolute numbers, almost 10,000 new cases — the highest so far — added each day in this period. The new phase is especially challenging for the