In huge spike, India records 2.4 lakh cases; Omicron tally at 5,488

India reported 2.47 lakh coronavirus cases today, the highest single-day rise in the ongoing wave.

An increase of 84,825 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data updated this morning.

Among all the states, Maharashtra reported the highest Covid-19 cases at 46,723 cases, followed by Delhi with 27,561 cases, West Bengal with 22,155 cases, Karnataka with 21,390 cases and Tamil Nadu with 17,934 cases.

These five states accounted for 54.87 per cent of the daily new cases reported on Sunday, Maharashtra alone responsible for 18.88 per cent of the new cases.

The country's tally now stands at 3.63 crore, which includes 5,488 cases of Omicron variant reported across 28 states and union territories. Maharashtra and Rajasthan lead the chart with 1,281 and 645 infections, respectively. Delhi, which was for a longer period of time in the second slot of the countrywide tally, has retained its third position with 546 cases of the new 'variant of concern'. On January 10, Rajasthan overthrew the national capital as the second most-hit state in India by Omicron.

Other states and UTs in the top 10 worst-affected regions include Karnataka (479), Kerala (350), West Bengal (294), Uttar Pradesh (275), Gujarat (236), Tamil Nadu (185), and Haryana (162).

As many as 380 people have died of Covid during the past 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry. This includes 199 deaths in Kerala in the last few months, added based on pending appeals after the last Supreme Court guidelines.

The active cases comprise 3.08 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 95.59 per cent.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 13.11 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 10.80 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive has exceeded 154.61 crore, the ministry said.

India conducted 18,86,935 tests during the previous day, according to the Health Ministry data.

A total of 76,32,024 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, which brings the total tally of doses administered to 1,54,61,39,465.