India on Monday recorded 1,03,558 daily cases, the most infections reported in a day since the pandemic began, data from the health ministry showed. With this grim milestone, the country’s overall count rose to 1,25,89,067. The country registered 478 additional deaths, taking the toll to 1,65,101.

Monday’s tally broke the record number of daily cases reported on September 17, when 97,894 new coronavirus infections were registered in 24 hours.

The active cases rose for the 26th straight day to 7,41,830. As many as 1,16,82,136 people have recovered from the infection in the country.

The cumulative number of coronavirus vaccine doses administered has crossed 7.91 crore, the health ministry said. Of these, 16,38,464 were given on Sunday.

India kicked off its inoculation programme in January for the healthcare workers and then the elderly. On April 1, third phase of the vaccination drive began under which anyone 45 or older is allowed to get a shot.

Ministry of Health

India has been witnessing a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the past few weeks. The cases had been falling steadily since a peak in late September, but experts say increased public gatherings and laxity toward public health guidance led to the latest surge.

As the fresh wave sweeps through India again, there is speculation that some states will once again go back to lockdowns. Maharashtra, which is the worst affected in the country, on Sunday imposed weekend lockdowns and several restrictions for other days.

But the Centre is yet to signal toward a countrywide shutdown, similar to the one imposed last year.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Director General Shekhar Mande said that lockdowns do help in containing the spread of coronavirus. But it also affects the economy adversely and hence, there is a need to strike a balance while imposing one, he said, the Hindustan Times reported.

“Lockdown will help in containing the spread as people stay indoors,” he added. “Even if the virus spreads, it will only affect the family members and it will not spread outside. If you see the last year’s lockdown in India, the spread of the disease was quite slow in the country as compared to other countries, including Italy which witnessed an explosion of Covid-19.”

India currently is the third-worst country in the world in terms of the number of infections and the fourth-worst in terms of the number of deaths.

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