A record single-day spike of almost 50,000 cases in India

With a record single-day jump of 49,931 COVID-19 cases, India’s caseload climbed to 14,35,453 on Monday, while recoveries surged to 9,17,567, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country’s death toll rose to 32,771 with 708 fatalities being recorded in a day, the data updated at 8 am showed. This is the fifth consecutive day when COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 45,000.

There are 4,85,114 active COVID cases of in the country, while 9,17,567 patients have recovered and one person has migrated. The recovery rate stands at 63.92 per cent, according to the data.

The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners.

Earlier, the country has crossed the 14 lakh-mark just two days after it crossed the 13 lakh-mark. India took 158 days to reach the first five lakh cases-mark, but just 20 days to record the next five lakh cases. In a grim observation the gap between active and recovered cases has widened to 4,32,453 now.

Maharashtra continued to be the worst-hit state in the country with an infection tally of 375,799, followed by Tamil Nadu with 213,723 cases and Delhi with 130,606 cases. Karnataka has reported 96,141 cases, Andhra Pradesh 96,298, West Bengal 58,718 and Bihar 39,176 so far. With cases in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal showing a rapid increase in cases, reports say that they face the threat of becoming COVID hotspots.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 1,68,06,803 samples have been tested up to July 26, with 5,15,472 samples being tested on Sunday.