Highest 1-day tally of 65k takes India +ve cases past 21.5L

India crossed the 21-lakh mark in Covid cases on Saturday on the back of the highest single-day surge in fresh infections - crossing the 65,000-mark for the first time - even as two more Union ministers, Kailash Choudhary and Arjun Meghwal, tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of central ministers suffering from the disease to four. Union home minister Amit Shah and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had earlier tested positive.

With 65,410 fresh cases, India’s caseload jumped to 21,50,431, registering more than 60,000 new infections for the third consecutive day. The previous single-day peak, at 62,482 cases, was recorded on Thursday. However, for the first time after three days, the death toll at 884 on Saturday was less than 900 on Saturday even as the cumulative casualties crossed the 43,000-mark at 43,397.

Maharashtra recorded its highest single-day surge in fresh cases at 12,822, becoming the only state in the country to cross the 12,000-mark, as the total caseload crossed the five-lakh mark at 5,03,084. The previous single-day high was recorded on Aug 6 with 11,514 cases.