India records nearly 2.5 lakh COVID cases in 24 hours

India on Thursday morning recorded its highest single-day number of COVID cases in eight months, with Union health ministry data showing 2,47,417 cases being reported the previous day.

A total of 2,57,299 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 21.

The Thursday figure marks an increase of 27 per cent over the previous day's tally. Thursday's figure took the total COVID tally to 3,63,17,927 cases. A total of 380 deaths was also reported on Thursday morning, taking fatality count to 4,85,035.

The number of Omicron infections in India have risen to 5,488, with cases being reported in 28 states and Union territories. The country saw a single-day jump of 620 cases of the Omicron variant, the highest so far.

Thursday's surge means active cases now comprise 3.08 per cent of all infections reported in India, while the national recovery rate has decreased to 95.59 per cent. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 13.11 per cent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with chief ministers on Thursday to discuss the COVID situation.