As many as 39,726 more people tested positive for COVID-19 across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally to 1,15,14,331.
This is the greatest number of fresh infections the country has clocked in since November last year. Over the past five days, India has seen the sharpest surge in COVID-19 cases in the last 10 months, according to reports.
Maharashtra continues to be the biggest contributor in the daily count as the state saw 25,833 new infections, the highest one-day rise since the pandemic began — in the last 24 hours.
In addition to this, the death toll due to the disease in India has reached 1,59,370, with 154 more people losing their lives in the last 24 hours.
As many as 20,654 recuperated from COVID-19 during the same duration, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,10,83,679.
The active cases count, hence, rests at 2,71,282. The number was 2,52,364 on Thursday and 2,34,406 on Wednesday. The tally crossed the 2-lakh mark on Saturday.
The Union health ministry stated on Thursday that over 79.54% of the new cases are from Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu.
Surjitt Sahani
