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Sept. 12 (UPI) -- India set a global record for daily COVID-19 infections for the third-consecutive day in a row, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Saturday. The country reported more than 97,570 new cases for Friday, marking a new highest increase in daily cases in, Press Trust of India reported.
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About 958,316 cases are active and more than 3.6 million are recovered, according to the ministry.
Despite the increase, India's Delhi subway system resumed operations Saturday after being closed for five months because of the pandemic. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has reopened tracks gradually in the Indian capital over the past week, but with India setting global highs in new daily coronavirus cases, stations in containment zones remain shut and certain restrictions have been kept in place.
Only asymptomatic passengers have been allowed to travel and face masks are mandatory, according to a Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs statement. Though the capital has reopened public transit, transportation in Mumbai and Maharashtra remains suspended, government officials said.
India has the second-highest number of cases worldwide at over 4.6 million and the third-highest number of deaths at over 77,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University global tracker.
The United States has the most cases at over 6.4 million and the most deaths at over 193,000.
In Australia, police are preparing for hundreds of protesters against the COVID-19 lockdown to attend a rally called a "Freedom Walk" on Sunday in Melbourne. On Saturday, about 100 anti-lockdown protesters attended a rally at Fitzroy Gardens despite warnings from police to stay at home, resulting in 14 arrests and 51 infringement notices for breaching health guidelines.
Last week, police arrested 17 people in anti-lockdown protests and issued 160 infringement notices.
Australia's Victoria state on Saturday reported 19,800 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began with Melbourne accounting for 886 of those cases, according to Victoria's Department of Health and Human Services. Victoria's death toll is 716.
Victoria police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said anti-lockdown protesters were "selfish."
Australia has reported 26,707 COVID-19 cases and 803 COVID-19 deaths, the global tracker shows.
In Mexico, the COVID-19 death toll rose to 70,183 after the country's health ministry reported 534 new COVID-19 deaths Friday.
Mexico has the fourth-highest death toll in the world, behind India, Brazil and the United States.
Brazil has reported the third-highest number of cases at over 4.2 million and over 130,000 deaths.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his government was drafting a "war plan" against a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan was "not for everyone to stay at home and bring the country to a halt ... but to defend Hungary's functionality," Orban said.
Hungary's gross domestic product has fallen 13.6% amid the pandemic, and Orban said that measures to protect the economy and spur growth would be introduced in coming weeks.
Hungary has reported 11,825 COVID-19 cases and 633 COVID-19 deaths, according to the global tracker.
Worldwide, COVID-19 has sickened over 28.5 million and killed over 900,000.
