India on Thursday recorded the highest single-day spike of 52,123 Coronavirus cases in 24 hours taking the total number of infections to 15,83,792.

As many as 775 people died in the same period taking the death toll to 34,968. However, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has pointed out that more than 70 per cent of deaths are “due to comorbidities”.

Of the total number of cases, 5,28,242 are active while a whopping 10,20,582 people have been cured of the deadly infection that originated from China’s Wuhan in December last and gripped the entire world.

The recovery rate continues to improve and currently stands at 64.43 per cent, while the positivity rate is 11.67 per cent. As per the records of the ministry, in the last 24 hours, a total 32,553 people have recovered.

However, India is the third worst-hit nation by the pandemic in terms of cases after the United States and Brazil.

The total samples tested till this morning is 1,81,90,382, while 4,46,642 samples were tested on Wednesday.

Government data shows that 66.41 per cent of total cases reported in the last 24 hours are from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

The worst hit state Maharashtra has 1,46,433 active Coronavirus cases so far. A total 14,463 people have lost their lives.

In Andhra Pradesh, one of the worst hit states, a total 7,244 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number of active cases to 63,771. The ministry stated that a total 55,406 people recovered from the virus in the state and in the last 24 hours, 2,784 people left hospital or quarantine centres after recovering from the virus. So far, 1,213 people have lost their lives and in 24 hours 65 succumbed to the the disease.

The national capital, where the Union Home Ministry monitors the pandemic situation, has so far 10,770 active cases and in the last 24 hours 117 people got infected with the virus. A total 1,18,633 people have recovered from the virus and in the last 24 hours 1,126 people recovered. A total 3,907 people lost their lives in Delhi from the infection.

Karnataka, another worst affected state, recorded 92 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the total number of deaths due to Coronavirus to 2,147. The state has 67,456 active cases. In the last 24 hours, 3,014 people got infected. As per the ministry records, 4,901 people have been recovered from the virus in the state.

On Wednesday, the Home Ministry issued guidelines for ‘Unlock 3.0’, which will come into effect from August 1.

According to the guidelines, restrictions on movement of individuals during night have been scrapped, and yoga institutes and gymnasiums have been allowed to open from August 5.

International air travel has been permitted in a limited manner under the Vande Bharat mission. Further opening-up will take place in a calibrated manner.

On the global front, the total number of Coronavirus cases has neared the 17 million-mark, while the deaths have increased to more than 665,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Thursday morning, the overall number of cases stood at 16,957,763, while the fatalities rose to 665,486, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US accounts for the world’s highest number of infections and fatalities at 4,424,806 and 150,676, respectively, according to the CSSE.

Brazil comes in the second place with 2,552,265 infections and 90,134 deaths.