Indian data suggests runaway COVID infections as deaths hit daily record

FILE PHOTO: Lilaben Gautambhai Modi, 80, wearing an oxygen mask, sits inside an ambulance as she waits to enter a COVID-19 hospital for treatment, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ahmedabad, India, May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of people tested in India have shown exposure to COVID-19, a chain of private laboratories said on Wednesday, indicating a runaway spread of the virus as the daily death toll rose to a record 4,529.

India reported 267,334 new daily infections on Wednesday, taking its tally to 25.5 million, the world's second highest after the United States, with a death toll of 283,248, health ministry data showed.