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

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

Although India is on course to top the world in the number of coronavirus cases, people across the country, from Maharashtra's whirring factories to Kolkata's thronging markets, are back at work - and eager to forget the pandemic during the festival season.

Experts caution that activities during the October-November season - when Hindus celebrate major festivals such as Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali - may trigger a sharp increase in infections.

But after a strict lockdown in March that left millions on the brink of starvation, the government and people of the world's second-most populous country decided life must go on.

"Of course corona is to be feared. But what can I do? I can't miss the moments of Durga Puja," said housewife Tiyas Bhattacharya Das, 25.

India's relatively low mortality rate - about 1.5 per cent of its more than seven million cases - has given Prime Minister Narendra Modi leeway to resist a fresh lockdown, with the human toll and political cost of another shutdown seen to be worse than seeing case numbers soar.

Mr Sunil Kumar Sinha, a principal economist at the Mumbai-based India Ratings and Research agency, said Indians face a stark choice.

"People have to choose whether to die of hunger or risk getting a virus that may or may not kill you," he said.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE