Corona viras (coved 19)india.

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image captionLife in India has resumed even as cases surge

India is approaching the ninth month of the coronavirus pandemic with more than five million confirmed cases - the second-highest in the world after the US - and more than 80,000 reported deaths.

Infection is surging through the country in a "step-ladder spiral", a government scientist told me. The only "consolation" is a death rate - currently 1.63% - that's lower than many countries with a high caseload.

The increase in reported cases has partly to do with increased testing - but the speed at which the virus is spreading is worrying experts.

Here's why. It took 170 days for India to reach the first million cases. The last million cases took only 11 days. Average daily cases have shot up from 62 in April to more than 87,000 in September.

In the past week, India has recorded more than 90,000 cases and 1,000 deaths every day. Seven states are worst affected - accounting for about 48% of India's population.

But even as infections soar, India is opening up - workplaces, public transport, eateries, gyms - to try to repair a battered economy suffering its worst slump in decades.

The world's most draconian lockdown forced people to stay at home, shut businesses and triggered an exodus of millions of informal workers who lost their jobs in the cities and returned home on foot, buses and trains.

But the resumption of economic activity even as cases spiral suggests "lockdown fatigue", the Nomura India Business Resumption Index says.