New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) India reported 62,258 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since October, 2020, taking the total tally to 1,19,08,910 on Saturday.

India has shown a steep rise since March 16 (24,492), March 24 (47,262), and March 26 (59,118).

Cases have been increasing over the two weeks in leaps and bounds. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra and Punjab are turning out to be major contributors.

The central government is closely monitoring and actively engaging with states and union territories over the rising cases in the country.

With the death of 291 people in the last 24 hours, the toll touched 1,61,240 as the active caseload in the country mounted to 4,52,647.

With the discharge of 30,386 patients in a day, a total of 1,12,95,023 persons have been discharged so far.

As of date, 5.81 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

Now, those over 45 years of age will also get the Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the co-morbidities, the Central Government has announced.