Covid-19 cases of India cross one million, reports biggest single-day jump

The number of coronavirus cases across India crossed the one million mark today, recording 34,956 fresh infections and 687 deaths in the biggest one-day jump, according to Indian Health Ministry data.

The government data released this morning pegged total cases recorded since the outbreak began in the country at 1,003,832, with 25,602 deaths.

Over 6.35 lakh people or 63.34 percent of patients have recovered from the disease, the Ministry data showed.

The cases in India has moved from five lakh to ten lakh -- or one million -- in just twenty days. The US and Brazil currently have more Covid-19 cases than India.

The total death count across the country has gone up to 25,602 with the addition of 687 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

India's figures are now being powered by high growth rates seen in Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states, which have registered a sharp uptick in numbers in July with more than 1,000 cases recorded a day against 400 to 600 cases every day till June.

As new cases scale new peaks, several parts of India are seeing strict lockdowns being re-imposed after the easing of restrictions recently.

A total of 8,641 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Maharashtra in the 24 hours till Thursday, with 1,476 of the new cases being reported in its capital Mumbai.

266 deaths were reported in Maharashtra on Thursday, with 56 of them in Mumbai. Maharashtra has a death rate of 3.94 percent, while the positivity case rate is 19.65 percent.

In Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai, the daily fresh cases tally has continued to hover around 1,100 for a week. The state has recorded a total of 1,56,369 coronavirus cases so far and 2,236 deaths.

Karnataka reported its highest single-day spike with 4,169 confirmed cases. Its capital and India's IT hub Bengaluru has seen a massive surge in coronavirus numbers, which now stands at over 25,000.

West Bengal recorded a one-day jump of 1,690 Covid-19 cases till Thursday night, taking the tally to 36,117 and the death toll to 1,023 with 23 more deaths, according to the state Health Department.

Assam crossed the 20,000 cases mark with 892 additions in the 24 hours till Thursday night, and the death toll due to the infection reached 50 with two deaths on Thursday, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The Odisha government announced complete lockdowns in four districts and the steel plant city of Rourkela from tonight to July 31, amid a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases in the state.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today urged the government to take concrete steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and said if the contagion kept spreading at the current pace then there will be more than two million cases by August 10.