Coronavirus India Live Updates: Continuing to showcase a rising trend in coronavirus infections, India till Friday morning recorded 59,118 new cases taking its tally to 1,18,46,652. As many as 257 fatalities were reported on Thursday, taking the death toll to 1,60,949. Registering an increase for the 16th day in row, active cases have now risen to more than 4.21 lakh with the new addition. Maharashtra scaled a fresh single-day record with 35,952 cases, which is almost 62 per cent of the cases in India. Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh are now reporting around 2,500 cases each daily. The 257 new fatalities include 111 from Maharashtra, 43 from Punjab, 15 from Chhattisgarh, 12 from Kerala, 11 from Tamil Nadu and 10 from Karnataka.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. Meanwhile, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 23,86,04,638 samples have been tested up to March 25 with 11,00,756 samples being tested on Thursday.

Official data shows prominent second waves of infection in six states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat. 

A new double mutant variant of coronavirus has been identified in India, according to the Ministry of Health. A total of 206 cases of the double mutant variant (E484Q + L452R) have been detected in Maharashtra, the data shows. However, the Centre has said that there is no direct link of the new variant detected with the ongoing surge in the state.