India recorded 40,715 infections in the last 24 hours on Tuesday, 13 per cent lower than a day before, taking the total tally to 1,16,86,796. Rajasthan alone has reported that the cases multiplied by six times since the beginning of March, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Tuesday.

A single-day spike of 46,951 infections was recorded on March 22, highest since November 11. Prior to this, the country registered an increase in the new cases for 12 consecutive days.

corona virus

According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were exhibiting a steep rise in the daily cases. The Central Government is closely monitoring and actively engaging with the states and union territory over the rising cases in the country.

With the death of 199 people in the last 24 hours, the toll has reached 1,60,166 in India. The active caseload in the country has mounted to 3,45,377. With the discharge of 29,785 patients in a day, a total of 1,11,81,253 persons have been discharged so far. A total of 9,67,459 tests were done on Monday.

So far, 4.84 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'. India has also decided to extend the interval between doses of Covishield vaccine to 4-8 weeks, the Health Ministry said on Monday. Earlier, the duration of gap between two doses was 4-6 week.