COVID-19 cases, deaths continue to rise sharply in India

NEW DELHI - A single-day spike of 90,802 COVID-19 cases was witnessed in India over the past 24 hours, while 1,016 more deaths took place, showed the latest data released by the country's health ministry on Monday.

The total COVID-19 tally reached 4,204,613 and the total death toll swelled to 71,642 in the country.

There has been a sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past few days, mainly attributed to the ramping of sample testing across the country.

Currently there are 882,542 active cases in the country, while 3,250,429 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals.

As per the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 49,551,507 samples had been tested by Sunday, with 720,362 samples tested on Sunday alone.

India is now the second worst COVID-hit country in the world after the United States, surpassing Brazil.

Meanwhile, the country is passing through the Unlock 4 phase. Metro Rail services were resumed on Monday in several cities, including Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, in a graded manner after over five months of suspension.

However, school and all other educational institutions continue to remain shut.