The Latest: India's new virus totals still on downward trend

India has registered a single-day spike of 74,442 new coronavirus cases, driving the country’s overall tally since the pandemic began to 6.6 million

Virus Outbreak Venezuela Catholic Priest (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

NEW DELHI — India has registered a single-day spike of 74,442 new coronavirus cases driving the country’s overall tally since the pandemic began to 6.6 million.

The Health Ministry on Monday also reported another 903 virus deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 102,685.

India has reported the second most infections globally after the United States, but its daily new infections are now on a downward trend, though still the highest in the world. The number of active virus cases in the country has also remained below 1 million for the past two weeks.

The country’s recovery rate stands at 84%, the highest in the world, with more than 5.5 million people recovered from coronavirus so far, according to the Health Ministry.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

MANILA, Philippines — Grade and high school students in the Philippines have started classes at home after the pandemic forced remote-learning onto an educational system already struggling to fund schools.

The shift to distance-learning that began Monday has been a logistical nightmare for the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country that has long lacked enough classrooms, teachers and educational equipment. Nearly 25 million students enrolled this year in mostly 47,000 public schools nationwide that would have to be replicated in homes and enlist the help of parents and guardians as co-teachers.

A majority of families, especially from poor and rural communities, opted to use government-provided digital or printed learning materials, which students would read at home with the guidance of their elders before carrying out specified activities. Most lacked computers and reliable internet connections. Teachers could answer questions by telephone.

The rest of the families preferred for their children to get lessons online or through regional radio and TV educational broadcasts.

President Rodrigo Duterte has said school classes should resume only when a COVID-19 vaccine has been made available.

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has reported 73 new cases of the coronavirus, its fifth straight day of below 100. Nevertheless, officials are concerned about the threat from increased travel during a five-day holiday that ended Sunday.

The figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Monday brought the national caseload to 24,164, including 422 deaths.

Fifty-one of the new cases were reported from the greater capital area. The newest cluster of infections in the region is an army unit in Pocheon, north of Seoul, where more than 30 troops have so far tested positive.

The KDCA said nine of the new cases were linked to international arrivals, including passengers from the United States, Poland, Britain, Russia and Uzbekistan.

There’s a possibility that the downward trend in confirmed infections is related to the fewer tests that were conducted during the five-day Chuseok harvest holiday.

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo during a virus briefing Monday said usage of express buses and rail services declined by more than 40% during the holiday break compared to last year as officials pleaded that people stay home to help slow transmissions.