A record single-day rise of 2,61,500 coronavirus infections has taken India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,47,88,109, while active cases have surpassed the 18-lakh mark, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death count increased to 1,77,150 with a record 1,501 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Registering a steady increase for the 39th day in a row, the active cases stand at 18,01,316, comprising 12.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 86.62 per cent, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,28,09,643, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.20 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today tweeted to say that he is suspending all his public rallies in West Bengal in view of view of the Covid situation in the state. In a brief post, Mr Gandhi also advised political leaders against holding large public rallies.
"I would advise all political leaders to think deeply about the consequences of holding large public rallies under the current circumstances," Mr Gandhi tweeted.
West Bengal, which is in the midst of an eight-phased assembly election, has seen a sudden spike the COVID-19 cases.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus India Cases:
The supply of oxygen meant for industrial use will now be diverted to meet the rising demand for medical oxygen in the country as it battles a record surge in COVID-19 cases in the deadly second wave of the pandemic, said a letter from the government.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, scorched over the migrant crisis last year, today requested the migrants from his state to return home quickly in the backdrop of the raging second wave of Covid.
Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his wife Asha Hooda have tested positive for coronavirus.
Delhi's Chandni Chowk market, frequented by thousands everyday, will remain shut till April 25 amid a massive spike in Covid cases in the national capital.
"It is very necessary to break the chain of the coronavirus infection in view of the rise in the cases. No one should come out of house unnecessarily till April 30," Mr Chouhan said in a statement.
On Saturday, the state had witnessed its highest daily increase of 4,498 cases.
With 68 more fatalities in the past 24 hours, the death count climbed to 7,902 in the state, according to a medical bulletin.
Eleven deaths were reported in Amritsar, nine in Gurdaspur, seven in Patiala and six in Rupnagar.
Mohali reported 880 cases, the maximum in the state, followed by 742 in Amritsar, 686 in Ludhiana, 445 in Jalandhar and 379 in Patiala.
The number of active cases stands at 34,190.
The death count climbed to 1,824 with 15 more fatalities.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 743, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (488) and Rangareddy (407), a government bulletin said on Sunday providing details as of 8 PM on April 17.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said in the last 24 hours, 30,596 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported from the state, while 9,041 patients recovered from the disease.
A total of 6,50,333 COVID-19 patients have so far recovered from the disease in the state, he added.
The active COVID-19 caseload has increased to 44,686, a bulletin said. The chart showed 9,62,037 positive cases, 9,09,941 recoveries and 7,410 deaths so far.
Asserting that PM Modi did little to address the possible crisis in the supply of medical oxygen and vaccines in the five-six months when the virus had lost its sting before its resurgence this year, Ms Banerjee accused PM Modi of exporting vaccines to other countries to boost his image in the international arena while there was a scarcity in his own nation.
In view of rapid increase in the number of people getting infected by COVID-19, ''universal vaccination'' is the need of the hour to protect lives, the DMK chief said in a letter to the Prime Minister and appealed to him to ''take a policy decision swiftly,'' over it.
Tamil Nadu would need more vaccine doses than allotted now to accomplish effective vaccinations, break the cycle of infection and flatten the curve, he said.
In a letter to the prime minister, the veteran Congress leader said one must not look at absolute numbers but the total percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
"The key to our fight against COVID-19 must be ramping up the vaccination effort. We must resist the temptation to look at the absolute numbers being vaccinated, and focus instead on the percentage of the population vaccinated," he said in his letter.
At a press conference, he slammed prime minister and said the fast pase in which coronavirus cases are increasing in the country, the BJP's poll rallies too are increasing at the same rate.
"Looking at the deteriorating coronavirus situation in the country, I want PM Modi to leave election management and start corona management," the AAP MLA said.
The 73-year-old Congress leader and his wife are in Delhi and they will get themselves admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon as a precautionary measure, party MLA BB Batra said.
"Hooda had mild fever on Saturday. Later, he and his wife got themselves tested for COVID-19 and their report was positive," he said.
India reported a record 2,61,500 new coronavirus cases and 1,501 deaths on Sunday, while active cases have surpassed the 18-lakh mark, the ministry data stated.
Ten states -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan -- reported 78.56 per cent of the new infections, it said.
"The daily positivity rate in the last 12 days has doubled from 8% to 16.69%," the ministry said in a statement. "The national weekly positivity rate has increased from 3.05% to 13.54% in the last one month."
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday gave a dire warning, saying that the city was fast running out of beds, oxygen and the life-saving drug Remdesivir as it recorded an unprecedented 24,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.
The positivity rate had reached a huge 24 per cent - meaning one in four of all people being tested were coming out positive, he said.
"The situation is very serious and worrisome," Mr Kejriwal said. "Cases have gone up really fast. That is why we are facing shortages even though everything seemed under control until a few days ago. But the speed at which this corona is growing, no one knows where its peak will be," he added.
"Any health infrastructure has limitations. The government is trying its best to increase the number of beds. I hope that we will be able to add 6,000 more beds in the next two to four days," he said.
Delhi led major cities across India into a weekend lockdown Saturday as the country confronts a fierce new coronavirus wave, with more than 2.3 lakh fresh daily cases that has left many states struggling for drugs and hospital beds.