India reported 168,912 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. It is the highest single-day rise so far. Taking the total tally of COVID19 cases in the country to 13.5 million, India surpassed Brazil to become the second-most affected country globally by the coronavirus. It is preceded by the United States whose total count is 31.2 million cases.

Yesterday, 904 people lost their lives to the virus in India. The total death toll stands at 170,179 in the country.

With 63,294 new cases and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state. On April 10, at an all-party meeting on the COVID19 situation in the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray hinted at a complete lockdown in the state given the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. A final decision on the complete lockdown in the state is likely soon.

Also Read: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray indicates complete lockdown in the state

The national capital, Delhi, has also witnessed the highest single-day spike with 10,774 new COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister, will hold a meeting today to review the COVID situation. In his press conference yesterday morning, Kejriwal said he did not want to impose a lockdown in the national capital but the fourth corona wave in Delhi was ‘extremely dangerous’.

Also Read: Delhi crosses 10,500 daily COVID19 cases; fourth wave very dangerous but no lockdown yet, says CM Kejriwal

The national COVID-19 recovery rate has fallen below 90 per cent. Last week, on April 6, the recovery rate was 92.48 per cent.

Marking day one of the Tika Utsav announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, over 2.93 million vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours.  The country has administered over 104.5 million doses so far. Maharashtra has administered the highest vaccine doses of 10 million.

Yesterday, April 11, the Indian government banned the export of antiviral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients. This decision came as demand rocketed amid rising COVID-19 infections back home, leading to a crippling shortage in many parts of the country. As of today, over 64.7 million doses have been exported to 83 countries.

Also Read: Ripple effect of COVID-19’s second wave in India being felt across the globe

Amid the record high cases being recorded every day, tens of thousands of devotees from across the country have gathered in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar for the Maha Kumbh Mela.

Also Read: COVID19 second wave: Millions of devotees pour into Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela

Meanwhile, as per the news reports, 50 per cent of the staff at the Supreme Court of India has tested positive for the coronavirus. Judges will hear cases through video conferences from homes, inform reports.

Tomorrow, April 13, a media briefing on COVID19 by the Union health ministry will be held at 4 pm at the National Media Centre (NMC), Delhi.