India reported 53,476 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, highest single-day spike since October taking the total tally to 1,17,87,534 on Thursday. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra and Punjab are turning out to be a major cause of worry. Cases have been increasing over the last two weeks.

On October 22 last year, India recorded a single-day spike of 54,366 infections. The central government is closely monitoring and actively engaging with states and union territories over the resurge. With death of 251 people in the last 24 hours, the toll has reached 1,60,692 in India. The active caseload in the country has mounted to 3,95,192.

With the discharge of 26,490 patients in a day, a total of 1,12,31,650 persons have been discharged so far. A total of 10,65,021 tests were done on Wednesday. So far, 5.31 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

Now, those over 45 years of age will also get the Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the co-morbidities, the Central Government has announced.