The number of coronavirus disease cases in India reached 6,04,641 on Thursday after 19,148 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Four hundred thirty four people died in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll up to 17,834, the Union health ministry data showed at 8 am.

The number of active cases in the country are 2,26,947, while 3,59,859 patients have been cured or discharged, the health ministry data showed.

This comes a day after the country recorded its biggest single-day spike of 18,653 new infections. It also registered the highest single-day Covid-19 deaths at 507 on Wednesday.

The recovery ratefrom the coronavirus disease in India, the fourth worst-hit country in theworld, has improved to 59.43 per cent. There are 347,978 people who have beendischarged from hospitals across the country.Union Home Minister Amit Shah onWednesday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the country with Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan and senior officials of their ministries, officialssaid.Apart from Vardhan, others who attended the meeting included top officialsof the health and home ministries.

India has addednearly two lakh cases to its Covid-19 tally in the last 12 days. Maharashtraand Delhi have been the worst-hit, though Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwalsaid on Wednesday that the Covid-19 situation in the national capital was on aworrying trajectory until a few weeks ago but a concerted effort helped turnthe situation around.

He, however,cautioned people that the outbreak could spike again if they become complacent.

India reported itsfirst case of Covid-19 on January 30 from Kerala when a student who hadreturned from Wuhan, China tested positive.

In a bid to halt therapid surge in new infections, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Manipurand Nagaland are among the states which have extended the lockdown beyond June30 for varying periods up to July 31 without any more relaxations.

The second phase of‘Unlock ‘ also came into force from Wednesday after the month-long ‘Unlock 1’,a graded exit from the national lockdown imposed on March 25, ended on Tuesday.Though there will be “phased re-opening” of activities that had been barred tocontain the spread of coronavirus, educational institutions, Metro railservices, cinema halls and gyms will continue to remain shut.