India on Friday morning  recorded the highest single-day spike of 55,079 Coronavirus cases in 24 hours taking the total number of infections to 16,38,871 , the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. The country’s COVID-19 tally has crossed 16 lakh mark in just three days after it crossed 15,00,000 mark.

As many as 779 people died in the same period taking the death toll to to 35,747.

Of the total number of cases, 5,45,318 are active while a whopping 10,57,806 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 64.54 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 37,223 people have recovered.

This is the second consecutive day that more than 50,000 new cases have been reported in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, over 6.42 lakh samples were tested on Thursday, making it the  highest number of samples tested in a day since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.

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

In the states, Maharashtra reported its biggest jump in single day with 11,000 fresh infections on Thursday, taking the tally to 4,11,798 positive cases. Maharashtra with highest number of cases is followed by Tamil Nadu with 2,39, 978 infections and Delhi with 1,34, 403 cases.

On the global front, the total number of Coronavirus cases surpassed the 17 million-mark, while the deaths have increased to more than 672,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

The US accounts for the world’s highest number of infections and fatalities at  has crossed over 44 lakh cases so far.

Brazil comes in the second place with 2,610,102  infections and 91,377 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today warned youngsters to take precautions against the deadly virus. WHO said that youth people are also getting infected infected and can even succumb to the virus and urged them to follow all the rules and guidelines as everyone else.

“We need to change the way we’ve operated in the past,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the issue of Coronavirus vaccine.

Meanwhile, The first dog in New York that had confirmed case of COVID-19  in the US has died.

Robert and Allison Mahoney of Staten Island told National Geographic that their 7-year-old German Shepherd, developed breathing problems in mid-April after Robert had been sick with the Coronavirus for several weeks. A veterinarian tested him in May and found him positive for the virus.