MUMBAI — India posted its lowest daily coronavirus caseload in nearly four months, data from the Health Ministry showed on Tuesday, as new cases maintained decreasing trend from a peak in September.

The country reported 46,790 new infections in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to nearly 7.6 million — the second highest behind the United States. It also reported 587 deaths, taking the total to 115,197.

Experts have warned that infections could rise in India as the holiday season nears, with celebrations for the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Diwali due this month and in mid-November, respectively.

China reported 19 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Oct. 19, up from 13 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Tuesday. All of the new infections were imported, the National Health Commission said in a statement.

China reported 24 new asymptomatic patients, compared with 33 a day earlier. As of Monday, mainland China had 85,704 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The COVID-19 death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

Senegal reported that 14 new coronavirus COVID-19 confirmed cases took place in the country over the past 24 hours. In a statement, the Ministry of Health of Senegal said this brings to 15,432 the number of those who contracted the disease. Two deaths were reported Tuesday, bringing the number of death tally to 319, the report added.

The Mauritanian Ministry of Health stated in a statement Tuesday that the total number of COVID-19 cases reached 7,621, while the total deaths reached 163.

Ireland to go back

into lockdown

COVID-19 deaths in the European Union and the UK surpassed 200,000 on Monday as new measures to halt the spread of the virus are being rolled out across the continent.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 201,151 people have now lost their lives to the novel coronavirus in the EU/EEA and the UK. The number of infections is now approaching 5 million.

Europe has been fighting a second wave of the deadly virus with governments favoring local measures to national lockdowns.

Ireland became the first European country to announce a return to a full lockdown, with the entire population to be reconfined for six weeks.

Prime Minister Micheal Martin made the announcement on Monday evening, with the lockdown coming into force on Wednesday at midnight. Schools, he said, would remain open.

A raft of new restrictions came into force in Italy on Monday, after being announced on Sunday by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, with the country dealing with daily highs of infections.

Restaurants now have to display their maximum capacity outside, and close doors by midnight, while bars will have to close at 6 p.m. if they don’t have table service.

Private sector companies are encouraged to follow the public sector in increasing the number of employees working from home, while local festivals will be banned along with amateur sports.

Italy recorded 11,705 new cases on Sunday. It had already put extra measures in place in the northern Lombardy region, where the European outbreak began in late February.

Wales has announced a strict, 17-day “firebreak” lockdown on Monday, starting on Friday. This is essentially a full lockdown, with only critical workers and those that cannot work from home allowed to travel to work.

Everybody else will be expected to stay indoors, while all non-essential retail shops, leisure services, restaurants, pubs and cafes will be closed. “If we do not act now, infections will continue to accelerate and there's a risk our NHS would be overwhelmed,” Drakeford said.

There is also a curfew in place, between midnight and 5 am, with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo highlighting the "exponential" growth of the pandemic. An evaluation of the measures will be made after two weeks.

“We are really very close to a tsunami,” Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told broadcaster RTL. Belgium has now recorded 222,253 cases of coronavirus — more than double the figure from just one month ago.

The chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, announced on Monday that from Friday private gatherings will be limited to six people indoors and 12 people outdoors.

Also professional events such as football matches and operas will require assigned seats and mask-wearing throughout, with a maximum of 1,000 people indoors and 1,500 outdoors.

The country is currently seeing its highest daily infections since the start of the pandemic, with spikes of up to 1,750 a day.

France reported a new record number of cases in 24 hours on Saturday, with 32,427 according to the public health agency.

In England, a three-tier regional approach to battle the pandemic introduced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went into effect, with each level bringing progressively tighter restrictions.

Authorities in Poland announced on Monday that the National Stadium in capital Warsaw is being transformed into a 500-bed COVID-19 field hospital.

The country is now experiencing an exponential surge of coronavirus infections after recording low rates of infections compared to other Western European countries in the spring.

Schools in Romania's capital, Bucharest, as well as restaurants, bars, theaters, cinemas and gambling venues were ordered shut on Monday due an increase in COVID-19 cases. Authorities said the capital has entered a "red scenario" with more than three infections per 1,000 inhabitants.

School students from 6th and 11th grades in Russia's capital, Moscow, started online classes on Monday, a measure scheduled last until at least Nov. 2. The country as a whole reported 15,982 infections on Monday, the highest daily increase recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. — Agencies