NEW DELHI, April 21. / TASS /. India recorded 295,041 coronavirus cases and 2,023 deaths from COVID-19 over the past day, while the total caseload has reached 15,616,130 since the start of the pandemic, the country’s Health and Family Welfare Ministry announced on Wednesday.
India’s daily increase in the COVID-19 incidence hit another all-time high, the previous one of 273,810 cases was registered on April 19.
The country’s COVID-19 daily death toll has surpassed 2,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number to 182,553.
Most coronavirus cases were recorded in India’s western state of Maharashtra (62,097 per day), while its total case tally amounted to 3,960,359 and some 519 COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours. Furthermore, a challenging situation was reported in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The capital district of Delhi (which includes New Delhi) also demonstrated a high increase in the COVID-19 incidence, with some 28,395 people infected there over the past day, while another 277 patients died. Since the start of the pandemic, the Indian capital has reported 905,541 coronavirus cases.
Besides, the number of recoveries surged by 167,457 in the past 24 hours, reaching 13,276,039. As many as 2,157,538 COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment, 125,561 more than the day before.
Over the past 24 hours, some 2,990,197 people were inoculated with the COVID-19 jab, the total number of vaccinated citizens stood at 130,119,310. India is among the world leaders in terms of the mass vaccination rate, the Health Ministry noted.
India’s authorities have introduced tight restrictions amid the rise of the COVID-19 incidence. In the Indian capital, a lockdown is in effect since Monday until the next Monday morning. The day before, the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the states’ authorities to introduce a lockdown only as a last resort. According to him, it is crucial to ensure that economic activities will be affected by anti-coronavirus measures "to the least extent".