Coronavirus claims lives of 20,000 people in a week in India

India reported on Saturday its smallest daily increase in coronavirus infections in nearly three weeks, but deaths stayed near the 4,000-mark as the World Health Organisation warned that the second year of the pandemic could be worse than the first, Reuters reports.

In the past 24 hours, India had 326,098 new infections, taking its tally to 24.37 million, with 3,890 deaths, for a toll of 266,207, health ministry data shows. But the slow growth may also reflect test rates that are at their lowest since May 9.

During the past week, the south Asian nation has added about 1.7 million new cases and more than 20,000 deaths in a second wave of infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and medical staff.

Police are patrolling the banks of the Ganges in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh to stop any dumping of corpses in the river, a government official said.