India recorded over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day for the first time, taking the tally to 2,97,535, while the death toll rose to 8,498 with a record single-day spike of 396 fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The country has registered 10,956 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours till Friday 8 am.

India on Thursday went past the United Kingdom in terms of coronavirus cases to become the fourth worst-hit country, according to the Worldometer. The number of recoveries are more than the active novel coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day. The number of active cases stands at 1,41,842, while 1,47,194 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

"Thus, around 49.47 per cent patients have recovered so far," an official said. The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.