India nears 6.5 lakh COVID-19 cases after single-day spike of over 22,000

India also recorded 442 deaths from COVID-19 in the same 24-hour period

covid-19 gurugram aayush Representational image | Aayush Goel

The ministry of health and family welfare on Saturday announced that the number of COVID-19 cases in India had reached 6,48,315. The figure was reached after a record number of 22,771 new cases were reported in the 24 hours ended at 8am on Saturday.

India also recorded 442 deaths from COVID-19 in the same 24-hour period, taking the total number of fatalities to 18,655.

According to the ministry of health and family welfare, a total of 2,35,433 COVID-19 cases are active while 3,94,227 people have recovered from the virus.

The continuing rise in COVID-19 cases—India crossed the 6 lakh figure on Thursday—means India could overtake Russia as the nation with the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases by Monday.

Maharashtra continues to be the state worst affected by COVID-19, having recorded 1,92,990 cases as of Friday.

Tamil Nadu has recorded 1,02,721 COVID-19 cases as of Friday, while Delhi is also nearing the figure of 1 lakh cases, having reported 94,695 cases as of Friday.