New Delhi, Apr 22 (IANS): Amid despair due to surging Covid cases, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has hoped that things will change and a time will come when people will hug again.

"One day we will hug again. I have hope and faith in the human spirit, in the Indian spirit. We will heal. We will defeat this virus and we will do it by working together." Rahul Gandhi posted on Instagram.

"I want to thank all our healthcare workers & front line workers for their sacrifice & continued dedication, and the hundreds and thousands of Indian citizens going above and beyond to help their fellow countrymen. Each one of you gives us hope," Rahul Gandhi said further.

His post came on a day when India reported 3,14,835 Covid-19 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic early last year, taking the overall infection tally to 1,59,30,965 on Thursday, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.

Since April 15, India has continued to report over 2 lakh new Covid-19 cases on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, 2,104 additional people died due to the virus, which took the total death toll to 1,84,657.