India on Thursday witnessed the worst-ever single day spike of 75,760 Covid 19 cases, the highest that has been recorded by any country in a day, pushing the national tally to 33,10,234, while the death toll breached the 60,000 mark with 1,017 more fatalities in the last 24 hours.

Of the total 33,10,234 cases, 7,25,991 are active cases; 25,23,771 people have recovered from the contagion while a total of 60,472 have died due to the pandemic, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said.

With 56,013 recoveries in a day, the recovery rate stood at 76.24 per cent while the fatality rate was 1.83 per cent. India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August and went past 30 lakh on 23 August.

Maharashtra continued to be the worst-hit with a total of 7,18,711 cases and 23,089 deaths.

Tamil Nadu is at the second spot with 3,97,261 cases and 6,839 deaths. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, and Bihar follow.

According to the fresh data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 9,24,988 samples were tested in the last 24 hours with the total number of samples tested so far reaching 3,85,76,510. Five more volunteers were inoculated with the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate in Pune district on Thursday as part of the phase II clinical trial launched in search for an antidote against the coronavirus infection that is showing no signs of abating in the country.

On the global front, India remains the third worst-hit nation by the coronavirus, while the US and Brazil lead with a total of 58,21,602 and 37,17,156 cases, respectively.

The total number of cases across the globe has reached 2,41,76,836 while the total fatalities have reached 8,25,696.

MHA denies allegation: The Union Home Ministry on Thursday has denied the allegation that it is putting pressure on the Delhi government not to increase Covid-19 tests to 40,000 in the national capital.

“The allegation raised in the letter of the Health minister of Delhi Govt dated 27 August, 2020, which is addressed to the Union Home Secretary, to the effect that Ministry of Home Affairs is putting pressure on Delhi Govt officers not to increase testing in Delhi is false and baseless,” a spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs tweeted.