India

Ziona Chana, the head of a religious sect that practiced polygamy, died on Sunday, leaving behind 38 wives, 89 children and 36 grandchildren.

The news was confirmed by Mizoram's chief minister, Zoramthanga, who offered his condolences on Twitter "with a heavy heart".

Chana reportedly suffered from diabetes and hypertension.

Doctors told PTI news agency that Chana's condition deteriorated at home in his village, Baktawng Tlangnuam. He was rushed to hospital on Sunday evening, where he was declared dead on arrival.

As his condition deteriorated, the patient was put on a ventilator. He was administered steroids, a life-saving treatment for severe and critically ill Covid-19 patients. But experts say the drug also reduces immunity and pushes up blood sugar levels in patients.

After a prolonged stay in the ICU, the patient had recovered and was ready to go home when doctors found he was infected with a deadly, drug-resistant fungus.

Experts warn that the real number of fatalities might be much higher as many deaths are not officially recorded.

India has recorded 26 million cases - second only to the US - and is now the epicentre of the global pandemic.

The country is also only the third in the world to record more than 300,000 deaths - behind the US and Brazil.

It took less than a month to record its last 100,000 deaths.

The normally rare infection, called mucormycosis, has a mortality rate of 50%, with some only saved by removing an eye or jaw bone.

But in recent months, India saw thousands of cases affecting recovered and recovering Covid-19 patients.

Doctors suspect there may be a link with the steroids used to treat Covid.

Diabetics are at particular risk, with doctors telling the BBC it seems to strike 12 to 15 days after recovery from Covid.

On Thursday, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal wrote to India's 29 states to ask them to declare it an epidemic.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescue operations continue. At least 53 people are still missing.

A navy warship returned to the city's harbour on Wednesday with some of the 186 survivors rescued so far.

Thirty-five people have also been rescued from another of the three other barges stranded due to cyclone Tauktae.

The cyclone weakened after it made landfall on Monday, but at least 19 people are confirmed as having died on land in the storm.

Govind Kant, a Sydney businessman, died on Sunday, his company said.

He had travelled to Delhi in April for family reasons.

Mr Kant is believed to be the second Australian to have died in India amid a temporary travel ban imposed after a devastating second wave. Australian officials are yet to comment.

The three-week ban on Indian arrivals ended on Saturday, but more than 9,000 Australians remain stuck in the country.

The players and staff had been involved in the Indian Premier League which was suspended this month.

They flew to the Maldives after Australia banned all arrivals from India following a surge in Covid cases.

While the controversial ban was lifted on 15 May, thousands of Australians remain stranded in India.

The cricketers - among them former Australian captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins - will now complete 14 days' quarantine in Sydney.

Cyclone Tauktae has killed at least 12 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, authorities said.

It is set to make landfall in Gujarat late on Monday.

"This will be the most severe cyclone to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage," state revenue secretary Pankaj Kumar told Reuters.

The cyclone increases pressure on local administrations already struggling with a high caseload of Covid-19 infections.

The government said 80 people arrived in Darwin on Saturday, and would be quarantined for a fortnight.

Their Qantas flight was originally scheduled to carry 150 people onboard.

But 70 passengers were later barred from travel after testing positive for coronavirus or coming into close contact with others who were.

Australia's strict rules on pre-flight testing meant there was not enough time for the seats to be given to others waiting to return.

Deaths from Covid-19 swelled by 4205, while daily coronavirus cases rose by 348,421, with India's overall number of cases surging past 23 million, according to health ministry data.

Even then, experts believe the official numbers grossly underestimate the real scale of the epidemic's impact, and actual deaths and infections could be five to ten times higher.

India's Covid-19 infection curve may be showing early signs of flattening, but the decline in the number of new infections is likely to be slow, top Indian virologist Shahid Jameel said.