Coronavirus in India: 46,951 new cases in 24 hrs, highest single-day rise since early Nov

India recorded 46,951 new coronavirus cases and 212 fatalities in the last 24 hours, pushing the country's tally past 11.6 million (1.16 crore) and death toll to 1.59 lakh, according to the health ministry on Monday.

This is the sharpest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases since early November. The 212 new deaths comprise 99 from Maharashtra, 44 from Punjab, 13 from Kerala, and 10 from Chhattisgarh, while the total fatality tally of 1.59 lakh includes 53,399 from Maharashtra, 12,599 from Tamil Nadu, 12,434 from Karnataka, 10,956 from Delhi, 10,306 from West Bengal, 8,758 from Uttar Pradesh, and 7,189 from Andhra Pradesh.

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The ministry highlighted that over 70% of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

As per the ministry's dashboard update at 8 am every day, India's active caseload stands at 3,34,646, while 1,11,51,468 people have already recovered from the disease. As many as 47,905 infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours on November 12.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of the figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

The ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) said that 23,44,45,774 samples were tested for coronavirus up to Sunday, March 21, and of these, 880,655 samples were taken in for testing on the same day.

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India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20, and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The health ministry said on Sunday that Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh constitute 83.14% of the new infections in the country.

The ministry added that Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu are demonstrating an upward trajectory in the daily new caseload.