India registered 1,79,723 new Covid-19 cases on Monday morning, taking the overall tally to 3,57,07,727 since the pandemic began in the country in January 2020. The number of new cases was 12.58% higher than Sunday’s count of 1,59,632 cases.

The nationwide toll rose to 4,83,936 as 146 persons died due to the coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

India currently has 7,23,619 active cases of Covid-19, and the number of active cases of the disease increased by 1,33,008 in the past day. A total of 46,569 people recovered from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

Cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 increased to 4,033 from Sunday’s tally of 3,623 infections. The most number of Omicron cases have been reported from Maharashtra (1,216), Rajasthan (529) and Delhi (513). A total of 1,552 people have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals after having tested positive for the variant.

Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu saw an increase in coronavirus cases on Sunday.

The national Capital registered 22,751 new cases and 17 deaths due to the disease. The infections were 12.73% higher than previous day’s figure. The number of deaths on Sunday was the highest since June 16.

West Bengal witnessed its highest-ever rise in cases on Sunday after 24,287 patients tested positive for the virus. The new cases were 29.17% higher than Saturday’s count. Eighteen people died because of the infection. As of Sunday, 5.28% of beds were occupied in the state.

The positive cases also increased in Tamil Nadu on Sunday after 12,895 patients tested positive. Of these, 6,186 cases were found in state’s capital Chennai.

Karnataka recorded 12,000 cases on Sunday of which state capital Bengaluru reported 9,020 cases, health minister Dr Sudhakar K said. Currently, there are 49,602 active cases in the state.

A total of 1,51,94,05,951 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country since the vaccination drive began on January 16. In the past 24 hours, 29,60,975 vaccine doses have been administered.

India on Monday will begin administering precautionary third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers, and senior citizens with co-morbidities.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to assess the Covid-19 situation in the country. During the meeting, he said that vaccination coverage of the precaution dose should be taken up in a mission mode, according to a press release.