The highest single-day surge in Covid-19 cases went past 17,000 on Friday, pushing India's tally to 4,90,401, while the death toll climbed to 15,301 with 407 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

Updated at 8 am, the data showed the daily Covid-19 cases increased by the highest-ever 17,296 cases.

India registered over 14,000 cases for the seventh day in a row and witnessed a surge of 2,99,866 infections from June 1 till 26.

The number of active cases stands at 1,89,463 while 2,85,636 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated figure at 8 am.

"Thus, around 58.24 per cent patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 77,76,228 samples have been tested up to June 25 with 2,15,446 samples being tested on Thursday.

Of the 407 new deaths reported till Friday morning, 192 were in Maharashtra, 64 in Delhi, 45 in Tamil Nadu, 18 in Gujarat, 15 each in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, 12 in Andhra Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Punjab, six in Karnataka, five in Telangana, four in Rajasthan and two in Jammu and Kashmir.

Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have reported one Covid-19 fatality each in the last 24 hours.

Of the total 15,301 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra tops the tally with 6,931 deaths, followed by Delhi with 2,429 deaths, Gujarat with 1,753, Tamil Nadu with 911, Uttar Pradesh with 611, West Bengal with 606, Madhya Pradesh with 542, Rajasthan with 379 and Telangana with 230 deaths.

The Covid-19 death toll reached 198 in Haryana, 170 in Karnataka, 136 in Andhra Pradesh, 120 in Punjab, 90 in Jammu and Kashmir, 57 in Bihar, 36 in Uttarakhand, 22 in Kerala and 17 in Odisha.

Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have registered 12 deaths each, Assam, Puducherry and Himachal Pradesh nine each, Chandigarh six, Goa two and Meghalaya, Tripura, Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, it said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 1,47,741, followed by Delhi at 73,780, Tamil Nadu at 70,977, Gujarat at 29,520, Uttar Pradesh at 20,193, Rajasthan at 16,296 and West Bengal at 15,648, according to the ministry data.

The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 12,596 in Madhya Pradesh, 12,463 in Haryana, 11,364 in Telangana,10,884 in Andhra Pradesh and 10,560 in Karnataka.

It has risen to 8,473 in Bihar, 6,549 in Jammu and Kashmir, 6,321 in Assam and 5,962 in Odisha. Punjab has reported 4,769 novel coronavirus infections so far, while Kerala has 3,726 cases.

A total of 2,691 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 2,452 in Chhattisgarh, 2,262 in Jharkhand, 1,290 in Tripura, 1,056 in Manipur, 995 in Goa, 941 in Ladakh and 839 in Himachal Pradesh.

Puducherry has recorded 502 Covid-19 cases, Chandigarh has 423, Nagaland has 355 and Arunachal Pradesh has 160.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 155 Covid-19 cases.

Mizoram has 145 cases, Sikkim has 85, Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 59 infections so far while Meghalaya has recorded 46 cases.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research)," the ministry said, adding that 8,123 cases are being reassigned to states.

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

Doctors wearing masks walk outside a hospital in Jammu, India, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. AP

Delhi govt to set up more ICU beds

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said his government will set up ICU beds on a large scale at three state-run hospitals in wake of the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital.

Addressing an online media briefing, he said Delhi has reported around 74,000 cases so far; of them, 45,000 patients have recovered.

The rise in number of cases is a matter of concern but there is no need to panic as the Covid-19 situation is "still under control", Kejriwal asserted.

"We have increased our capacity of testing by three times and hence, cases are rising in the city," he said.

Mosque sets up virus facility

In a humanitarian gesture, a mosque in Bhiwandi town of adjoining Thane district has been converted by its administrators into a temporary Covid-19 facility, where oxygen is provided free of cost to patients.

The facility at Makkah Masjid in the Shanti Nagar area of the powerloom town has been set up by the local chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Movement for Peace and Justice and the Shanti Nagar Trust, which runs the mosque.

Apart from putting up five beds equipped with oxygen cylinders, the JIH also delivers them for free to patients homes if required, an office-bearer of the JIH said, adding the makeshift facility is open to all communities.

So far, the Bhiwandi-Nizampur municipality has recorded over 1,332 Covid-19 cases and 88 casualties. It has a mortality rate of 5.26 per cent, a release stated.

"Bhiwandi-Nizampur has been hit hard by the pandemic as it is a congested city. It doesn't even have proper health infrastructure.

"The situation has only worsened during the pandemic as general medical practitioners have shut their clinics fearing the virus spread," said Ausaf Ahmed Falahi, president of the JIH's Bhiwandi chapter.

HC no to testing facilitates for lawyers

The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to entertain a PIL seeking direction to the Delhi government to take necessary steps for providing Covid-19 testing facilities for advocates, judicial officers, court staff and their family members in all court premises in the national capital.

A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan asked the Delhi government to decide "as expeditiously as possible and practicable" the representation moved by the petitioner lawyer, on the same issue, on June 8.

With the direction, the court disposed of the plea moved by advocate Vishesh Verma who had sought that testing labs and sample collection facilities be set up inside all court premises in the city for lawyers, judicial officers, their staff and their family members.

The petitioner, during the hearing via video conference, contended that lawyers have maximum public dealing after health professionals and police, and therefore, such facilities are required inside the court premises.

The court did not appear to agree with the contention, as it asked the petitioner "do lawyers have more public dealing than chemists, railway staff and grocers".

In response, the petitioner said "yes".

No fresh lockdown in Karnataka

All efforts would be made to control the spread of coronavirus in the city and there will be no fresh lockdown, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday said, asserting that improving economic situation of the state is also equally important.

Though the state capital was considered a model for the entire country in Covid management and has seen a spike in cases during the last few days, the pandemic can be controlled if everyone cooperated, he said.

His remarks come a day after revenue minister R. Ashoka said Bengaluru is still 'safe' compared to the Covid-19 situation in other cities and states and had ruled out a fresh lockdown for now, putting to rest speculations that it was planning such a move in view of spike in cases.

As of Thursday evening, a total of 1,791 Covid-19 cases, including 78 deaths and 505 discharges, had been reported in the city while the state's tally stood at 10,560 compared to just 3,408 cases as on June 1.

The state capital has the highest number of cases among the districts.

"There is no question of imposing lockdown for any reason.

In some areas (with high case load) we have already implemented lockdown, other than those places there is no question of it being implemented in other places," Yediyurappa told reporters.