With 81,484 new cases, India's COVID-19 tally climbs to 6.39 million

A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a woman, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, September 29, 2020. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

India's coronavirus case tally climbed to 6.39 million after it reported 81,484 new infections in the last 24 hours, while related deaths were just shy of 100,000 mark, data from the health ministry showed on Friday.

Deaths from coronavirus infections rose by 1,095 in the last 24 hours to 99,773, the ministry said.

The South Asian nation, which is second only to the United States in terms of total cases, has scope for higher infections with a large chunk of the population still unexposed to the virus, a survey showed on Tuesday.

India reported its worst economic contraction in decades for the quarter to June as the COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to close and the country to impose one of the strictest lockdowns to prevent the virus from spreading.

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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