September 28 coronavirus news

India surpassed 6 million coronavirus cases Monday, becoming only the second country in the world to do so.

The country recorded 82,170 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to figures released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The only other country to report more cases is the United States, which now has more than 7.1 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins University.

India's case numbers have been rising swiftly over the past few months.

From the first Covid-19 case recorded in India on January 30, it took six months for the country to reach 1 million infections. However, it took just two more months for India to reach 6 million cases.

The country’s death toll stands at 95,542, with 1,039 new deaths recorded in the past 24 hours. 

Nearly 72 million tests have been conducted as of Sunday, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research. Recoveries make up 82% of cases.

In India, patients with mild and moderate symptoms are considered no longer active after 10 days of symptom onset if they meet certain conditions. A test to confirm that they no longer have the virus is not required. Severe cases can only be discharged after one negative coronavirus test.

Australia’s Victoria state recorded five new cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, marking the lowest daily increase in infections in 108 days, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The last time Victoria recorded daily infection numbers this low was on June 12, when the state reported four new cases of the virus, according to data from the department.

Victoria also recorded three new coronavirus fatalities in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide death toll to 787. The state has now reported a total of 20,150 cases, according to the department.

Lockdown eased: On Sunday, Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews announced a slight easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, including the end of a nightly curfew as the state continues to see a drop in cases.

Almost half the US is reporting increased numbers of new Covid-19 cases as health experts warn of a potential coronavirus surge in the fall and winter.

As of Sunday, the number of new coronavirus cases has increased by at least 10% or more compared to the week before in 21 states, most of them in the West, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Cases are rising in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington state, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Eighteen states were holding steady. Only 11 -- Arizona, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire -- saw decreases of new cases of more than 10% compared to the week prior.

The US could see an explosion of Covid-19 cases in the fall and winter as people exercise less caution and spend more time indoors, where there is a greater likelihood of transmission, according to Dr. Chris Murray, director of the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

Murray says the IHME model shows a "huge surge" expected to take off in October "and accelerate in November and December." The IHME model indicates that the country is currently seeing about 765 daily deaths from Covid-19, but that number could jump to 3,000 daily deaths by late December.

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Across the world, more than 996,000 people have died from coronavirus since the pandemic began, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

The US accounts for about a fifth of those deaths, and is currently reporting more than 204,000 Covid-19-related fatalities.

Brazil has the second-highest death toll with more than 141,000 deaths and India has reported more than 94,000.

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A Maryland man was sentenced to a year in jail for holding two large parties and violating the state's order against large gatherings, according to the Charles County state's attorney's office.

Shawn Marshall Myers, 42, was arrested after holding the parties in late March. Maryland's Covid-19 social distancing rules banned gatherings of more than 10 people, according to the office of Gov. Larry Hogan.

Myers was convicted Friday of two counts of failure to comply with an emergency order and will serve his one-year sentence at the Charles County Detention Center, the state's attorney's office said in a press release.

Myers' attorney, Hammad S. Matin, did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.

After being confronted by law enforcement at his home in Hughesville, Maryland, on March 22, Myers agreed to disband the first gathering of about 50 people, after initially being "argumentative" with officers, the state's attorney's office said.

Myers held a second party with more than 50 people only five days later, though, which he refused to end, according to prosecutors.

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This week is a big test for the New York City public school system, the largest in the United States. After a chaotic couple of months, officials say they're finally ready to invite students back into classrooms.

Now they have to convince parents and teachers it's safe.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced August 7 that schools in the state could reopen classrooms for the fall. That was about a month before the scheduled start of the New York City school year. But Cuomo didn't order schools to reopen -- he left that decision to local leaders.

In New York City, that meant Mayor Bill de Blasio, schools commissioner Richard Carranza and a host of other involved parties like teachers' union leaders and parents' groups. It proved to be a huge challenge.

First, the city announced schools would open to students on September 10. That got delayed until September 21. And then that date was delayed to September 29, and the start of in-person education was split into several dates. Kindergarten through eighth grade starts on Tuesday, while middle school and high school students have to wait until October 1. And in-person education is limited: a hybrid schedule keeps students in the classroom only a few days a week, with the rest of their learning online.

It's a complicated schedule, the result of political negotiations and ongoing concern about a new spread of Covid-19 in the city that was once the hardest hit in the United States.

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