A record surge of 83,883 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours took India's Covid tally past 38-lakh mark, just 1.5 lakh behind Brazil, the world's second most affected nation, the Union Health Ministry data this morning showed. In the last 24 hours, 11,72,179 samples were tested, the highest single-day tests so far, taking the total number of tests past 4.55 crore. An additional 1,043 deaths linked to the highly contagious disease have pushed the total number of fatalities to 67,376. Over 29 lakh have recovered from the infection in the country so far. Maharashtra remains the state hit hardest by the pandemic followed by three southern states - Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

• Maharashtra reported a record spike of 17,433 new cases, its highest single-day count so far, taking its tally to 8,25,739. The state also reported 292 fresh deaths, 34 of them in the state capital Mumbai, pushing up the fatality count to 25,195.

• Andhra Pradesh - the state with the second-highest coronavirus count, has maintained a steady streak for another day, with 10,392 fresh coronavirus cases, pushing the state's total case to 4,55,531.

• With 5,990 new COVID cases, Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 tally has reached 4,39,959. The southern state also reported 98 fatalities taking the number of deaths to 7,516. As many as 75,829 samples were tested and 49,64,141 specimens have been examined to date, a health department bulletin said.

• Karnataka on Wednesday reported its biggest single-day spike of over 9,800 new COVID-19 cases and 113 deaths, taking the infection count to 3,61,341 and the number of deaths to 5,950, the health department said. The day saw the state testing a record 73,317 samples, including 38,735 using the rapid antigen kits, as the cumulative specimens examined crossed the 30 lakh mark.

• The number of active COVID-19 cases in Delhi increased by around 50 percent in a month, with the city witnessing a marked uptick in new cases, according to government data. The number of active COVID-19 cases have increased to over 15,000, an analysis of the Delhi government's health bulletins showed.
• In the northeast, Tripura recorded its highest single-day spike of 566 cases. This is the third consecutive day of the highest spike in Tripura. 125 deaths have been reported in the state so far. Tripura has the highest mortality rate and the lowest recovery rate in the northeast.
• India has been reporting "one of the lowest COVID-19 fatality rates in the world" with the figure further declining to 1.76 percent against a global average of 3.3 percent, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. "While the global average is 110 deaths per million population, India is reporting 48 deaths per million population. The comparative figure for Brazil and the UK is 12 and 13 times higher, respectively," the ministry said.
• International passengers who have to take connecting domestic flights after landing in India can undergo tests for COVID-19 at the entry airports, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Wednesday. If the RT-PCR test result is negative, the international passenger will be allowed to catch his or her connecting domestic flight and he or she will not need to undergo any institutional quarantine at the destination city, the ministry's order said.
• Global coronavirus infections have soared past 2.57 crore, as countries tighten restrictions to halt the health crisis that has upended life for most of humanity. Over 8.56 lakh people have died of the infection globally.