Maharashtra surge takes India’s daily tally past 35k; 536 cases in Delhi

India’s daily infection tally on Wednesday touched 35,836 – the highest single-day case increase in the country in over a 100 days.

Pushed by 23,179 new cases of Covid-19 in Maharashtra alone, India’s daily infection tally on Wednesday touched 35,836 – the highest single-day case increase in the country in over a 100 days, or since December 5, clearly underlining the rising second wave of infections.

A health worker conducts thermal screening of a passenger at CSMT Railway Station in Mumbai. (PTI)

Delhi also continued its trend of rising infections as the city reported 536 new cases on Wednesday, the highest daily infections since January 6.

Maharashtra’s case toll on Wednesday was the seventh-highest single-day toll ever recorded in the western state and is the highest single-day rise for the state since September 17, 2020 – when the country’s first Covid wave was raging at its peak. The state, which is the worst-hit by the pandemic, has seen a massive resurgence of cases in the past few weeks.

As many as 36,439 new infections were recorded on December 5, 2020, according to HT’s Covid-19 dashboard. With 168 new deaths reported on Wednesday, the national Covid death toll now stands at 159,268.