India now 4th worst-hit country

India reported a record daily increase of novel coronavirus cases yesterday and became the world's fourth worst-hit country, raising the prospect of the return of a lockdown just days after it was lifted.

Anxious to revive the economy after a nearly 70-day lockdown, the government this week opened most public transport, offices and malls, even though health officials said the country was weeks away from flattening the curve of infections.

Yesterday, the health ministry said the number of cases had increased by 10,956 from the previous day, with new infections rife in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

Dr VK Paul, head of a government task force tackling the outbreak, said there was no quick end in sight. "Our population is still susceptible, this virus is present, we have contained it, but this fight will go on for months," Paul told a news conference.

The new cases took India's total number of infections to 297,535, and it replaced Britain as the fourth worst-affected country, according to Reuters tallies.

India's death toll reached 8,498, which officials said was small in relation to its 1.3 billion population. Britain has had more than 41,000 deaths.

Meanwhile, the United Nations yesterday warned that the coronavirus pandemic has put millions of children at risk of being pushed into underage labor, reversing two decades of work to combat the practice and potentially marking the first rise in child labor since 2000.

As the pandemic pummels the global economy, pushing millions of people into poverty, families may be under pressure to put their children to work for survival, the UN said, marking the World Day Against Child Labor.

"As the pandemic wreaks havoc on family incomes, without support, many could resort to child labour," said Guy Ryder, director-general of the International Labour Organization (ILO), a U.N. agency, in a statement.

"Social protection is vital in times of crisis, as it provides assistance to those who are most vulnerable."

Due to global shutdowns, the world economy is forecast to shrink 3.2% this year, according to a Reuters poll of more than 250 economists. Forecasts for global economic growth had tended to range from 2.3% to 3.6% before the pandemic struck.

The number of child laborers worldwide has dropped significantly to 152 million children from 246 million in 2000, according to the ILO.

To prevent a rise in exploitation, the U.N. called upon governments to integrate child labor concerns into broader pieces of legislation, including policy on education, labor markets and human rights protections.