Coronavirus LIVE: India records 354,531 cases, 2,806 deaths in last 24 hrs

Coronavirus live updates: India reported 354,531 fresh coronavirus infections on Monday, taking the cumulative caseload to 17,306,300, Worldometer showed this morning. Amid oxygen shortage and faltering health system in the country, India saw 2,806 deaths in highest single-day spike. The death toll from the deadly infection stands at 195,116. The country now has more than 2.8 million active cases.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged all citizens to be vaccinated and exercise caution, saying the "storm" of infections had shaken India, as the country set a new global record of the most number of Covid-19 infections in a day. The United States said it was deeply concerned by the massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and would rapidly send aid. 

Hospitals in Delhi and across the country are turning away patients after running out of medical oxygen and beds. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended a lockdown in the capital that had been due to end on Monday for a week. Doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences have found that one patient is now infecting up to nine in 10 contacts, compared with up to four last year. Maharashtra on Sunday logged 832 Covid related fatalities, which is the highest-ever single-day spike since the pandemic started. With today's count, the death toll in the state has reached 64,760. As many as 66,191 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported from Maharashtra today.

The six most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (4,161,676), Kerala (1,322,054), Karnataka (1,247,997), Tamil Nadu (1,037,711), and Andhra Pradesh (997,462), Uttar Pradesh (976,765) and Delhi (956,348).

World coronavirus update: Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe with 147,780,699 infected by the deadly contagion. While 125,730,123 have recovered, 3,122,427 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 32,824,389, followed by India, Brazil, France and Russia. However, in the past seven days, India has added the highest number of fresh cases at 1,969,569, followed by the US (449,498) and Turkey (414,425).