The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 7,466 in India, while the number of cases climbed to 2,66,598 after the country registered 266 fatalities and a record single-day spike of 9,987 cases till Tuesday 8 am, according to the Union Health Ministry.

India is the fifth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the US, Brazil, Russia, and the UK, according to the Johns Hopkins University data.

The number of active novel coronavirus cases stands at 1,29,917, while 1,29,214 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. "Thus, 48.47 per cent patients have recovered so far," the ministry said.

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

Of the 266 new deaths reported till Tuesday morning, 109 were in Maharashtra, 62 in Delhi, 31 in Gujarat, 17 in Tamil Nadu, 11 in Haryana, nine in West Bengal, eight in Uttar Pradesh, six in Rajasthan, four in Jammu and Kashmir, three in Karnataka, two each in Madhya Pradesh and Punjab and one each in Bihar and Kerala.