NEW DELHI — India on Sunday set a new virus record when it reported 78,761 new infections in 24 hours, according to health ministry figures, passing the United States for the world’s highest single-day rise. India, home to 1.3 billion people, is already the world’s third-most infected nation with more than 3.5 million cases, behind the US and Brazil. It has also reported more than 63,000 deaths. The US set the previous record on July 17 with 77,638 daily infections. India’s grim milestone came a day after the government further eased its coronavirus lockdown, in place since late March, to boost the struggling economy. Millions have lost their jobs since the start of the lockdown, with the poor particularly hard hit. A significant feature of India"s COVID-19 management, however, is the growing rate of recovered patients. On Sunday, the recovery rate reached nearly 76.5%. The Health Ministry credited its strategic policy of "testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently" in supervised home isolation and hospitals. But COVID-19 fatalities continue to mount and soon India will have the third-largest death toll, after the United States and Brazil, even though it has had far fewer deaths than those two countries. India is now reporting around 1,000 COVID-19 deaths every day. So far, more than 63,000 Indians have died from the disease. Even as eight Indian states remain among the worst-hit regions and contribute nearly 73% of the total infections, the virus is now spreading fast in the vast hinterlands, with health experts warning that the month of September could be the most challenging. Earlier this week, members of a small secluded tribe in the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands tested positive for the coronavirus. So far, the biggest contributor to the new surge has been the western state of Maharashtra, home to the commercial capital of Mumbai. It alone has accounted for more than 24,000 deaths and nearly 21% of all cases. India"s economy — the fifth largest in the world — has been severely hit by the pandemic. But despite the surging cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team have been pushing for a return to normalcy to ease the pain. The federal government on Saturday said the crowded subway, a lifeline for millions of people in New Delhi, will reopen gradually from Sept. 7. Schools, colleges and movie theaters remain closed until the end of September. The Home Affairs Ministry said gatherings of up to 100 people would be allowed with face masks and social distancing at cultural, entertainment, sports and political events from next month. Metro train services would also resume “in a graded manner” in major cities. — Agencies