With a record single-day surge of 57,117 new COVID-19 cases, India's total tally inched closer to 17-lakh mark on Saturday, while the number of recoveries rose to 10,94,374, according to Union Health Ministry data.
The country has so far registered 16,95,988 instances of the coronavirus infection. The death toll increased to 36,511 with 764 fatalities being reported in 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
This is the third consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000. The total number of confirmed cases also includes foreigners. There are 5,65,103 active COVID-19 cases in the country.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative 1,93,58,659 samples have been tested up to July 31 with 5,25,689 being examined on Friday.
Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 17.5 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 678,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
As of Saturday morning, the total number of cases stood at 17,516,264 and the fatalities rose to 678,226, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.
[The US accounted for the world's highest number of infections and fatalities at 4,559,008 and 153,311, respectively, according to the CSSE. Brazil came in the second place with 2,662,485 infections and 92,475 deaths.
