India records another 89,000 new virus cases

NEW DELHI: India has added another 89,706 coronavirus cases to the second-highest reported tally in the world, and the government is saying schools will reopen later this month for senior students after more than five months closed.

According to the Health Ministry, India's total caseload on Wednesday reached 4.37 million. The ministry also reported 1,115 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 73,890. India has the second-most reported cases in the world and the third-most reported deaths behind the United States and Brazil.

More than 1 million people have tested positive for the coronavirus in India in less than two weeks. Testing has been ramped up to more than 1 million daily, with cumulative testing exceeding 50 million.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday announced partial reopening of schools from Sept. 21 for students of 9-12th grades for taking teachers' guidance. Online learning will still be permitted.

India's famed white marble Taj Mahal in the northern city of Agra will also reopen Sept. 21 with access restricted to 5,000 tourists daily to prevent overcrowding.

HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

PEORIA, Ill. — Bradley University in central Illinois is requiring its entire student body to quarantine for two weeks because of clusters of COVID-19 on campus and is reverting to remote learning, officials announced Tuesday.

Officials of the private university said they have linked a spike of the coronavirus to off-campus gatherings. The Peoria university is requiring students to limit nonessential interactions, stay in their off-campus apartments, residence halls and take classes remotely beginning Tuesday.

The university said it has tallied about 50 COVID-19 cases so far, adding emergency measures are needed to respond to the outbreak without disrupting academic progress.

"Although it may seem extreme, this move to temporary remote learning and a two-week, all-student quarantine allows us to focus on the continuity of the educational experience for all of our students while giving us time to gather data on the full extent of the spread of the virus and assess the best way to proceed as a community," Bradley President Stephen Standifird said in a message to students.

While about 4,600 undergraduates were enrolled at Bradley last year, it wasn't immediately known how many are enrolled this fall.

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SEOUL, South Korea __ The number of new coronavirus infections in South Korea has stayed below 200 for the 7th straight day, amid elevated social distancing rules.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday the 156 cases added in the past 24 hours took the country's tally to 21,588 with 344 deaths.

The agency says 100 of the new cases were locally transmitted patients in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at the center of a viral resurgence since early August. Authorities in the Seoul area have recently ordered the shutdown of churches, night establishments and after-school academics while allowing restaurants to provide only takeouts and deliveries after 9 p.m.

South Korea on Monday reported 119 new cases in its lowest daily jump in more than three weeks. Its daily jump once surpassed 400 in late August.

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HONOLULU -- Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell says he will extend the city's stay-at-home order for two weeks to control the coronavirus.

The stay-at-home order will be kept in place through Sept. 24. But the mayor says he will modify the rules to allow solo activity at beaches, parks and trails. Individuals will be able to run, sit or eat by themselves in these public places beginning Thursday.

Caldwell says he extended the order because the number of new COVID-19 cases hadn't declined as much as he wanted.

He says he wants to discuss how to cautiously reopen more activities.