With a rapid increase in the number of positive coronavirus cases, India has now taken the fourth spot in the list of countries worst hit by the deadly pandemic.
India accounts for a total of 2,95,772 positive cases as of Thursday evening. The country overtook the United Kingdom which has a total tally of 2,91,588.
United States, Brazil and Russia are the only nations to precede India, with 20,03,930, 7,72,416 and 5,01,800 positive cases respectively.
India entered the top 10 list on May 24, during the fourth phase of the lockdown. And, in just 18 days, India has surpassed countries like Italy, Spain to take the fourth spot.
On March 25, when the first phase of the lockdown began, only ten people had died, with positive cases just over 500.
But as India began to reopen, in a bid to revive its economy, the nation witnessed a massive surge in the number of cases. 9,996 cases in the last 24 hours has been the highest increase ever.
The death rate, however, has been low compared to other countries. A total of 8,102 patients have succumbed to the virus so far. Out of those 8,102 deaths, the state of Maharashtra accounts for the majority of them with 3,590 reported deaths.
For the second consecutive day, Maharashtra recorded new highs on the Covid-19 dashboard -- 152 deaths and 3,607 cases -- with the highest 97 fatalities for the second day running in Mumbai, health officials said on Thursday.
Maharashtra has been recording 100-plus fatalities and new patients over 2,000 daily for the past 11 days.
With 152 fatalities, the state's death toll has zoomed to 3,590 while the total number of Coronavirus patients increased from Wednesday's 94,041 to climb to 97,648 on Thursday.
Maharashtra is followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi in the number of positive cases with the latter having a total tally of 34,687.
