Covid-19 cases in India crossed the 30,000 mark in a single day for the first time pushing the tally to 9,68,876 on Thursday, while the death toll climbed to 24,915 with 606 people succumbing to the disease, according to the Union health ministry data.

The country saw a record increase of 32,695 cases of coronavirus infections in a day, with Maharashtra (7,975), Tamil Nadu (4,496), Karnataka (3,176), Andhra Pradesh (2,432), Uttar Pradesh (1,659), Delhi (1,647), Telangana (1,597), West Bengal (1,589) and Bihar (1,328) contributing to around 80 per cent of the single-day spike, the updated data at 8 am showed.

With a steady rise, the number of recoveries stands at 6,12,814, while there are 3,31,146 active cases of coronavirus infection presently in the country.

"Thus, around 63.25 per cent of patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases includes foreigners.

Of the 606 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 233 are from Maharashtra, 86 from Karnataka, 68 from Tamil Nadu, 44 from Andhra Pradesh, 41 from Delhi, 29 from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from West Bengal, 11 each from Jammu and Kashmir and Telangana, 10 from Gujarat and nine from Madhya Pradesh.

Punjab has reported eight fatalities followed by Haryana with seven deaths, Assam and Bihar six each, Rajasthan five, Odisha and Puducherry three each, Jharkhand two, while Chandigarh, Kerala, Tripura and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu have registered a fatality each.

Of the total 24,915 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 10,928 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,487 deaths, Tamil Nadu 2,167, Gujarat 2,079, Uttar Pradesh 1,012, West Bengal 1,000, Karnataka 928, Madhya Pradesh 682 and Rajasthan 530.

So far 452 people have died of COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh, 386 in Telangana, 319 in Haryana, 221 in Punjab, 206 in Jammu and Kashmir, 180 in Bihar, 77 in Odisha, 50 in Uttarakhand, 46 in Assam, 38 in Jharkhand and 35 in Kerala.

Chhattisgarh has registered 20 deaths, Puducherry 21, Goa 18, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh 11 each, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura three each, Meghalaya and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two each, while Ladakh has reported one fatality.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 2,75,640 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,51,820, Delhi at 1,16,993, Karnataka at 47,253, Gujarat at 44,552, Uttar Pradesh at 41,383 and Telangana at 39,342.

The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 35,451 in Andhra Pradesh, 34,427 in West Bengal, 26,437 in Rajasthan, 23,306 in Haryana, 20,612 in Bihar and 19,643 in Madhya Pradesh.

Assam has instances of 18,666 infections, Odisha 14,898 and Jammu and Kashmir 11,666 cases. Kerala has reported 9,553 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Punjab has 8,799 cases.

A total of 4,539 have been infected by the virus in Chhattisgarh, 4,320 in Jharkhand, 3,785 in Uttarakhand, 2,951 in Goa, 2,268 in Tripura, 1,700 in Manipur, 1,596 in Puducherry, 1,341 in Himachal Pradesh and 1,142 in Ladakh.

Nagaland has recorded 902 Covid-19 cases, Chandigarh 625 and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 539 cases.

Arunachal Pradesh reported 462 cases, Meghalaya 346, Mizoram 238, Sikkim has registered 220 infections so far, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has recorded 176 cases.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR," the ministry said, adding that 1,285 cases are being reassigned to states.

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.