India recorded the highest single-day spike of over 24,879 new coronavirus cases and 487 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total tally to 7,67,296 with 21,129 deaths, Health Ministry's data revealed on Thursday.

According to the data, out of total 7,67,296 cases, 4,76,377 have recovered while 2,69,789 remain active in the country. With more COVID-19 patients recovering, the gap between the number of recovered cases and active cases has increased by two lakh.

The rate of recovery among the COVID-19 patients continues to increase and has touched 61.53 per cent. India, however, remains to be the third worst-affected country after the US and Brazil.

During the last 24 hours, 2,67,061 samples were tested, as the testing lab network continues to expand. As on date, more than 1,119 labs have enabled people to undergo coronavirus tests.

Maharashtra tops the chart and remains the worst hit state, with cases reaching up to 2,23,724 and 9,250 casualties so far, of which 198 occurred in the last 24 hours. Tamil Nadu remained the second worst hit with a total of 1,22,350 cases, including 1,700 deaths.

With 2,033 new coronavirus cases and 48 deaths in the last 24 hours, the national capital recorded a total tally of 1,04,864 and 3,213 deaths.

States with more than 10,000 cases include Gujarat with 38,333 cases and 1,993 deaths, Uttar Pradesh (31,156), Rajasthan (22,063), Madhya Pradesh (16,036), West Bengal (24,823), Haryana (18,690), Karnataka (28,877), Andhra Pradesh (22,259), Telangana (29,536) and Bihar (13,189) cases.   (IANS)