The country registered 78,761 new coronavirus cases yesterday, taking its tally to 3.54m cases, with 63,498 deaths. The increase tops the 77,299 recorded in the United States on July 16th, making it the largest 24-hour jump of the pandemic.
It is the fourth +75,000 increase in a row, made worse by 948 new deaths in the last day.
India’s total case numbers are now only behind the United States and Brazil as the number of global cases top 25 million.
Maharashtra, India’s wealthiest and most urbanised state, recorded 331 fatalities, the steepest single-day increase among all states, followed by the southern state of Karnataka with 136 deaths.
Despite the rising case numbers, government officials in New Delhi are set to further ease lockdown measures next month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing for a return to normalcy to lessen the economic pain of the pandemic after the country’s imposed strict lockdowns of the country’s 1.3 billion people.
Subway systems in New Delhi are set to reopen from September 7th in what is set to be a lifeline for it’s 20 million people.
But cinemas, swimming pools, entertainment parks and other such places will remain shut.
However, social, religious, academic, sports, entertainment, religious and political functions with a maximum congregation of 100 people will be permitted from September 21st.
READ MORE: China India WAR: New Delhi on alert for ’offensive’ in town
This brought the total number of cases to 19,699, including 323 deaths.
The government has placed limits on dining at restaurants and gyms in the capital as well as ordering churches and nightspots to close.
Brazil reported at least 758 additional coronavirus fatalities during the last 24 hours.
41,350 new cases were recorded bringing the death toll to 120,262 and the confirmed cases to 3,846,153.
Alongside this, indoor weddings, engagement parties and other ceremonies have been banned in Istanbul from Monday as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths hit the highest level in Turkey in more than two months.