With a fresh spike of 45,230 coronavirus infections and 496 deaths in 24 hours, India's tally on Monday rose to 82,29,313 said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of the total Covid-19 cases, 5,61,908 are currently active, 75,44,798 have been discharged, while 1,22,607 lost the battle against the pandemic. While the recovery rate stands at 91.68 per cent, the fatality rate is 1.49 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare showed.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit with a total of 16,83,775 cases, including 44,024 deaths; followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Meanwhile, the national capital recorded 5,664 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday, taking the tally to 3,92,370. This was the fifth consecutive day that Delhi recorded over 5,000 cases. It had recorded its highest daily cases on Friday at 5,891.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted 8,55,800 sample tests in a single day on Sunday, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 11,07,43,103. The government has planned to start the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine first to the healthcare workers followed by other groups to be added 'sequentially'. The distribution drive would take place over a year. For this, the states and the union territories would form a three-tier system as per the directions the Centre has given to all the states.

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 46.4 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 11,99,500, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 91,99,523 and 2,30,934, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases.