India has become the No. 2 country, after the United States, of new daily coronavirus infections, registering a record rise of more than 100,000 new cases, as hospitals in its worst affected state are overrun by patients.
Since hitting a multi-month low in early February, the country's daily infections have leaped about 12 fold when authorities eased most restrictions and people largely stopped wearing masks and following social distancing rules. More infectious variants of the virus may have also played a role in the second surge, some epidemiologists say.
With 103,558 new infections, India has now reported 12.6 million cases, the highest after the United States and Brazil, data from the health ministry showed. India has recorded the most number of infections in the past week anywhere in the world.
Deaths jumped by 478, still one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, raising the total to 165,101.
Maharashtra, India's hardest-hit state, reported a record 57,074 new cases overnight.
The state will start closing shopping malls, cinemas, bars, restaurants and places of worship from Monday evening. Authorities will also impose a complete lockdown at weekends, as experts are worried about a shortage of critical-care beds in hospitals, especially in its smaller cities.
India's previous daily high in cases was 97,894, hit in mid-September and after which infections had come down sharply, only to rise again starting late February as the economy fully reopened and new virus mutations spread.
