Coronavirus update: India surges past 1 million mark; records 34,956 new cases, 687 deaths in one day

India's COVID-19 tally has touched the grim milestone of 1 million and 25,000 deaths on Thursday, with the country reporting the biggest ever spike of 34,956 new cases and 687 deaths. The total positive cases stand at 10,03,832, including 3,42,473 active cases, 6,35,757 recoveries and 25,602 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

India has so far conducted 127,39,490 COVID-19 tests, including 3,26,826 on Thursday alone. This is the seventh consecutive day that COVID-19 cases in the country have increased by more than 26,000, which can be attributed to the high number of daily tests being conducted across the country.

India's caseload rose from 8 lakh to 10 lakh in just six days and the death toll rose from 20,000 to 25,000 in just 10 days. India is the third most-affected country in terms of coronavirus cases after the United States and Brazil and the eighth in terms of COVID-19 fatalities.

Maharashtra, as usual, led the count with 266 deaths and  8,641 new infections. Karnataka, which is emerging as another most-affected state, reported 104 deaths and 4,16 new COVID-19 cases.

Tamil Nadu reported 69 deaths and 4,549 new cases, while Delhi reported 58 deaths and new cases 1,645 new cases.

Other states with high death toll and a record number of cases are Andhra Pradesh (40 deaths, 2,593 new cases), Uttar Pradesh (34 deaths, 2,083 new cases), West Bengal (23 deaths, 1,690 new cases) and J&K (91 deaths and 490 new cases).

Mumbai also added 1,476 new cases and 26 deaths, taking its total tally to 97,950. Chennai's case tally has seen a decline in the past few days, with the metro city reporting 1,157 new infections in a day. Telangana reported 10 deaths and 1,676 new COVID-19 cases, taking the state's tally to 40,000 mark.

The central government has said there is no community spread of coronavirus in India and that early detection of COVID-19 cases through widespread testing, surveillance and clinical management has resulted in India having one of the lowest fatality rates at 2.66 per cent. As per the Health Ministry, more than 70 per cent  of the deaths have occurred due to comorbidities.

The global case tally has surged to 13,765,713, including 589,192 deaths. The United States tops the chart with 3,574,371 infections and 1,38,339 deaths, followed by Brazil with 2,012,151 new cases and 76,688 deaths.

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