India has registered 40,425 new coronavirus cases and 681 deaths in a fresh single-day record jump in the country, government data released Monday showed.
The new cases put the total tally in India, among the worst-hit by the pandemic, at 1,118,043, the federal health ministry said on its website.
The latest deaths bring the total fatalities to 27,497. The Covid-19 fatality rate in India, the second-most populous country in the world, is currently at 2.49 per cent, which is among the lowest in the world, the ministry said. The rate was "progressively falling" due to effective clinical management, containment strategies and testing. The recovery rate stood at 62.61 per cent, with 700,087 people having fought back the illness, it said.
 The rate of infections has been rising at its fastest pace after India began easing its lockdown in mid-May. India has added a million cases since then. At the same time, India has ramped up testing with over 250,000 tests daily and a total of 14 million tests so far.
With the recent surge in cases, several regions including the IT hub of Bengaluru and the resort state of Goa have announced fresh lockdowns and restrictions.
 National capital New Delhi and the financial hub of Mumbai emerged as the epicentres of the outbreak, although infections in the cities have shown a decline in the recent days.
India is the country third worst hit by Covid-19. Its caseload lags behind only the United States, which has more than 3.7 million cases, and Brazil with over 2 million cases.
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