For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, India has recorded the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases.
In the last 24 hours, a total of 1,03,558 fresh COVID-19 cases were detected in India. It is for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic that India’s single-day caseload surpassed the 1 lakh mark.
The previous high of 97,894 cases was achieved on September 16 last year, after which India’s cases started sliding.
With this record rise in COVID-19 infections, India has become only the second country after the United States to register more than 1 lakh new cases in a day.
COVID-19 death toll in India also jumped by 478 raising the total to 1,65,101.
India has recorded the most number of infections in the past week anywhere in the world.
The country’s daily infections have leapt about 12 fold since hitting a multi-month low in early February, when authorities eased most restrictions and people largely stopped wearing masks and following social distancing.
Notably, of the fresh 1,03,558 cases detected in India, over 57,000 infections were reported from Maharashtra.
Of the 478 deaths counted in the last 24 hours, 222 were from Maharashtra.
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The Uddhav Thackeray Government in Maharashtra on Sunday announced new restrictions including night curfew in the State from Friday 8 pm to Monday 7 am and “strict lockdown” on weekends amid the unprecedented Covid surge.
Delhi also recorded a huge spike of 4,000 fresh infections.
There are now more than 7.4 lakh active cases in India.