India on Monday witnessed the biggest single-day spike in Coronavirus cases with 5,242 new infections being reported in 24 hours. Also, 157 deaths were recorded in the same period.

With the fresh infections and fatalities, the total number of Coronavirus cases has climbed to 96,169 and deaths to 3,029, the Union Health Ministry data revealed on Monday.

Of the total, 56,316 are active cases while at least 36,823 people have been cured from the disease.

Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state with 33,053 cases with Mumbai alone reporting over 20,000 infections. Gujarat follows with 11,379 and Tamil Nadu has reported 11,224 cases.

Maharashtra has also reported the highest number of deaths, 1198, followed by 659 in Gujarat and 248 in Madhya Pradesh.

National capital’s total tally crossed the 10,000-mark on Monday and stood at 10,054 with 160 deaths.

States which have reported more than 4000 cases are Rajasthan (5,202), Madhya Pradesh (4,977) and Uttar Pradesh (4,259).

Other major states and Union Territories that have reported more than 1,000 cases are West Bengal (2,677), Andhra Pradesh (2,407), Punjab (1,964), Telangana (1,551), Bihar (1,262), Jammu and Kashmir (1,183) and Karnataka (1,147).

Among other states and UTs that have reported a significant number of cases are Haryana (910), Kerala (601), Odisha (828), Tripura (167), Jharkhand (223), Assam (101), Uttarakhand (92), Himachal Pradesh (80) and Chandigarh (191).

Goa which had maintained Corona Free status for quite a long time and had few resurged cases recently, reported at least 15 new cases, taking the total tally there at 29, said the Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Government informed that the country’s recovery rate has improved to 37.5 per cent and over 22 lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted.

The rise in cases comes amid relaxations given by the Centre in phase 4 of the nation-wide lockdown, which empowers states to frame guidelines on lifting restrictions and designating zones as Red, Orange and Green.

Operation of all markets, offices, industries and business along with plying of buses in all areas, barring containment zones, has been permitted by the MHA along with inter-state movement of buses and private vehicles with the consent of the involved states.

However, the MHA has directed that air travel, hotels, restaurants and public gatherings will remain prohibited throughout the country. Metro rail services, schools, colleges will also remain closed till May end.

Meanwhile, night curfew will continue to remain in force on movement of individuals, for all non-essential activities, between 7 pm and 7 am.

The fourth phase of lockdown comes as the National Disaster Management Authority issued an order to continue the lockdown measures till 31 May.

Ahead of announcing lockdown 4.0, the Centre on Saturday told officials from 30 municipal areas spread across 12 states, which contribute 79 per cent of India’s COVID-19 cases, to maintain high vigil and closely monitor areas of old cities, slums, migrant camps and other high-density pockets.

Apart from this, 550 of India’s 736 districts had Coronavirus cases as on May 17, an addition of around 180 districts in the last fortnight. This is according to data compiled from the states.

Struggling with the rise in infections, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu on Sunday imposed lockdown 4.0 till the end of May.