India added  over 2 lakh cases new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, a record high in the daily cases of Covid-19, pushing the country’s total tally to over 1.4 crore, according to data by Union Health Ministry.

With 2,00,739 new Covid-19 cases, the country’s total tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 1,40,74,564 cases of which 14,71,877 are active Covid-19 cases. This is the fifth straight day that the country has recorded daily spike of over 1.5 lakh cases.

With 1,038 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, pushing pushed the total death count to 1,73,123.

In the last 24 hours, 93,528 patients recovered, taking the number of recoveries to 1,24,29,564.

Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh remain the worst affected states in the country.

Maharashtra which is the worst hit state by the pandemic, reported 58,952 new Covid-19 cases taking the state’s  tally to 35,78,160 while 278 deaths pushed the death count to 58,804. Maharashtra has announced a slew of restriction to tackle the surge in cases and imposed Section 144 which restricts public gatherings of more than five people.

Delhi recorded 17,282 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, the highest since the pandemic taking the total tally to 7,67,438 cases.

Karnataka reported the highest single day spike this year with 11,265 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s tally to over 10.94 lakh cases. The state government has ordered a night curfew until April 20 in seven district including Bengaluru.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to postpone Class 12 board examinations and cancel Class 10 board exams. This decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi held amidst demands from many quarters, including Opposition political parties, to put off the examinations in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases.

According to the government data, a total of 33,13,848 people were vaccinated in the last 24 hours, taking the total inoculation count to 11,44,93,238.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 13,84,549 samples tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total samples tested to 26,20,03,415.