India registers 368,147 new Covid-19 cases, infection tally nears 20 million

India on Monday reported as many as 368,147 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the preceding 24 hours, pushing the country's total infection tally to 19,925,604, according to the Union health ministry's dashboard at 9:15am. As many as 3,417 new coronavirus-related fatalities were also recorded, taking the nationwide death toll to 218,959. India is currently dealing with a deadlier, more infectious second Covid-19 wave that sweeps through the nation, crushing its health infrastructure and overburdened frontline medical workers.

The active caseload, which crossed the three-million-mark last Thursday, has reached 3,413,642. This accounts for 17.13% of the total confirmed cases in the country.

Yesterday, India's daily Covid-19 surge had shown a marginal dip, down to 392,488 cases from the over four lakh new cases a day ago. However, the rate of new coronavirus infections continues hovering at alarming levels, with newspapers and websites littered with anecdotal reports over the past few weeks suggesting deaths and infections are being widely underreported.

Hospitals treating Covid-19 patients have filled to capacity, medical oxygen supplies have run short and morgues and crematoriums, even in national capital Delhi, have been swamped. At least 11 states and union territories have imposed some form of coronavirus-necessitated restrictions. A nationwide lockdown on part of the central government, however, still remains out of consideration for now.