India on Thursday, 1 April, reported 72,330 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 1,22,21,665. The death toll increased by 459 to 1,62,927.
This is the biggest one-day rise in COVID cases since 11 October.
According to the Union Health Ministry data, there are currently 5,84,055 active cases across the country, while 1,14,74,683 patients have been discharged, with 40,382 discharges reported in the last 24 hours.
A total of 24,47,98,621 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to 31 March, of which 11,25,681 samples were tested on Wednesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.
Meanwhile, more than 6.51 crore vaccine doses have been administered since India’s inoculation drive began on 16 January.
India's coronavirus curve had been steadily declining after reaching a peak of 90,000-plus cases in September. However, cases started increasing again rapidly over the last few weeks, with Maharashtra leading the surge.
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