India's single-day Covid cases second-highest in the world

India on Wednesday reported over 1.15 lakh Covid-19 cases. This is the second-highest spike in daily coronavirus cases reported across the world, surpassing Brazil and only behind the United States

The highest-ever Covid-19 spike was reported by the United States with 3,13,829 cases on January 8 this year, according to Worldometer data.

Brazil, in third place, reported 97,586 new Covid-19 cases on March 25 this year. France reported the fourth-highest Covid-19 daily cases with 88,790 single-day infections on November 7, 2020.

The single-day rise in coronavirus cases in India breached the 1-lakh mark for the second time in three days. The previous highest was reported on April 4, 2021, with 1,03,793.

Also Read | India sees highest-ever single-day spike of 1.15 lakh Covid-19 cases

The fresh spike in India pushed the nationwide Covid-19 tally to 1,28,01,785, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

New Scare

Amid rising coronavirus cases, a new scare came up for the worst-hit state in the country, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that a new strain could be afflicting the state and affecting people in a shorter duration of time.

India doesn’t have enough data on the new variants to explain the steep, nine-fold jump in infections from around 11,000 daily new cases in early February, said Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

Health officials blame more infectious variants that were first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, along with public fatigue with lockdowns and other restrictions.

Also Read | Suspect new Covid-19 strain in Maharashtra affecting people in shorter period, says Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope

Covid-19 deaths on the rise

Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide crossed 3 million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the latest global resurgence of Covid-19 infections is challenging vaccination efforts across the globe.

Brazil is leading the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported and accounts for one in every four deaths worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis.

The World Health Organization acknowledged the nation's dire condition due to coronavirus, saying the country is in a very critical condition with an overwhelmed healthcare system.

(With inputs from agencies)