India sees biggest single day spike in Covid-19 cases

India registered its highest spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours with 19,906 new patients, pushing the tally to 528,859, the health ministry said today.

The death toll rose to 16,095 with 410 fatalities in the last 24 hours, the ministry added.

This is the first time that over 19,000 fresh cases were reported in a single day, making India the fourth worst-hit country after the United States, Brazil and Russia.

According to government data, just eight Indian states (out of a total of 29 states) --Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal -- have contributed to 85.5 percent of the active cases and 87 percent of all deaths related to the contagion across the country.

Maharashtra reported over 5,000 cases for the second consecutive day today, taking the state's tally to 159,133.

With 1,400 new infections, financial hub Mumbai's tally has climbed to 74,252.

Delhi, the worst-affected city in the country, has more than 80,000 infections and the total number of deaths stands at 2,558.

Delhi struggles with an acute shortage of hospital beds. "As some people could not get beds due to the shortage, the death count started rising," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said yesterday.

The government in the southern state of Karnataka has decided to go for a full lockdown every Sunday from July 5; no activity will be permitted on Sundays, except essential services.

The decision was taken after state capital Bengaluru, India's IT hub, reported 596 positive cases - the highest one-day spike in the city -- on Saturday. The total cases in the southern state have climbed to 11,923 and 191 have died.

The Indian health ministry, in a new protocol for Covid-19 treatment on Saturday, allowed the use of the low-cost steroid dexamethasone as an alternative to methylprednisolone to treat coronavirus patients with moderate and severe symptoms.