India has recorded nearly 35,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, stated the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday morning. The country saw the biggest spike of and 671 deaths and 34,884 new cases in a day. India has now reported 10,38,716 cases including 3,58,692 active cases, 6,53,750 discharged and 26,273 deaths. India is currently the third worst-affected country in the world after the US and Brazil.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that it has conducted 1,34,33,742 tests so far, with 3,61,024 tests being conducted on July 17 alone. As testing increases across the country, the number of cases is also likely to shoot up.

Maharashtra with nearly 3 lakh cases is the worst-affected state in the country. Maharashtra has reported 2,92,589 cases with 1,20,780 active cases, 1,60,357 discharged and 11,452 deaths. With 1,60,907 cases, including 47,785 active cases, 1,10,807 discharged and 2,315 deaths, Tamil Nadu is the second worst-impacted state.

The national capital has reported 1,20,107 cases with 17,235 active cases, 99,301 discharged and 3,571 deaths.

Meanwhile, a Lancet report has said that a large number of districts in nine states including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Gujarat have high vulnerability to the infection. Madhya Pradesh, on the basis of housing, hygiene, and health system, was assessed as the most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19. Bihar and Telangana followed suit.