With 83,833 cases in 24 hrs, India records its biggest COVID spike; tally nears 39 lakh

New Delhi: A record spike of 83,833 cases has pushed India’s coronavirus tally past the 38-lakh mark, the Union Health Ministry data this morning showed.

This is the highest single-day jump in Covid infections in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.

The total number of infections in the country now stand at 38,53,406.

In the last 24 hours, 11,72,179 samples were tested, the highest single-day tests so far, taking the total number of tests past 4.55 crore. 1,043 deaths linked to the highly contagious disease were also registered, taking the total number of fatalities to 67,376. 29,70,492 have recovered from the infection in the country, pushing the recovery rate to 77 per cent.

Maharashtra remains the state hit hardest by the pandemic followed by three southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. India is the country with the third-highest coronavirus caseload in the world after the United States and Brazil.

Maharashtra reported a record spike of 17,433 new cases, its highest single-day count so far, taking its tally to 8,25,739. The state also reported 292 fresh deaths, 34 of them in state capital Mumbai, pushing up the fatality count to 25,195.

Andhra Pradesh – the state with the second-highest coronavirus count, has maintained a steady streak for another day, with 10,368 fresh coronavirus cases, pushing the state’s total case to 4,45,139.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi increased by around 50 per cent in a month, with the city witnessing a marked uptick in new cases, according to government data. The number of active COVID-19 cases have increased to over 15,000, an analysis of Delhi government’s health bulletins showed.