India recorded on Saturday over 400,000 new Covid cases in 24 hours for the first time, the first country to do so in the pandemic, official data showed.
According to the health ministry, 401,993 new infections were registered taking the total caseload to 1,91,64,969. There were 3,523 fatalities, bringing the death count to 2,11,853.
Authorities lowered their guard in the early part of the year after infections fell below 10,000 per day, lifting restrictions on most activity.
Mass religious gatherings such as the Kumbh Mela, attracting millions of Hindu pilgrims, and political rallies were allowed to continue even when cases numbers began rising sharply in late March.
Meanwhile, the United States will restrict travel from India starting next week, due to rampant spread of Covid-19 in the country, the White House said Friday.
"On the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the administration will restrict travel from India," Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
She cited "extraordinarily high Covid-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India" and said the policy will come into effect from May 4.