India has reported over 2 lakh COVID-19 cases in a single day, for the first time since the outbreak hit the nation. The unprecedented surge has triggered the biggest jump in total cases, distressing the country amid a fresh battle of treating the patients as the hospitals across the country are overwhelmed with more patients. The highest single-day spike has come when India's richest state Maharashtra has entered curfew-styled restrictions. 

The country has reported 2,00,739 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours till Thursday morning 8 am. According to the Union Health Ministry, India has recorded 1,038 fresh deaths during the same period which took the total death toll to 1,73,123. India's total COVID-19 tally has reached 14.1 million, which is the second-highest in the world after the United States, which had reported 31.4 million cases. 

According to Reuters, the latest surge was the seventh record daily increase in the last eight days and the highest single-day spike of over 2 lakh cases had displayed the severity of the second wave of the pandemic. The latest single-day COVID-19 death load of 1,038 deaths was recorded to be the highest single-day death toll since October 3, 2020. India has been witnessing a sharp surge in active cases. 

The active cases in the country currently stand at 14,71,877 comprising 10.46 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 88.31 percent. Many hospitals treating COVID-19 patients reported a severe dearth of beds and oxygen supplies to treat more patients, warranting the government to immediately install medical facilities to accommodate the patients and to address the crisis. 

Reuters reported that the hospitals and doctors in Maharashtra as well as other regions including Gurajat and Delhi had reported chaotic scenes as healthcare facilities were overwhelmed with a surge in admissions of COVID-19 patients. A visual from Gujarat had shown that dozens of ambulances queued up with the patients to admit them in the hospitals. On the other hand, the hospitals in Gujarat and other states had reported oxygen shortages. 

Reuters quoted Avinash Gawande, an official at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur, saying, "The situation is horrible and we are a 900-bed hospital, but there are about 60 patients waiting and we don't have space for them". The head of a medical body in Gujarat's Ahmedabad had directly written to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in which he said that the death toll will rise if such conditions persist. 

On the front of addressing the dearth of oxygen supplies, the Central government said that the country was producing oxygen at its full capacity every day for the last two days and it had boosted output. In a statement, the Union Health Ministry has on Thursday said, "Along with the ramped up production of the oxygen manufacturing units and the surplus stocks available, the present availability of oxygen is sufficient."

Maharashtra has reported a high caseload in India's total COVID-19 tally. In the last 24 hours, the state has reported 58,952 fresh cases and the state government has announced a fresh set of restrictions. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had on Tuesday announced strict restrictions in the movements of people and goods. The fresh restrictions have come to effect on April 14 and will remain in force till May 1. All establishments, public spaces, activities, and services will remain closed except for essential services that will remain open between 7 am to 8 pm. 

The five most affected states in India are Maharashtra (3,578,160 cases), Kerala (1,172,882 cases), Karnataka (1,094,912 cases), Tamil Nadu (9,40,145 cases), and Andhra Pradesh (9,28,664 cases). According to ICMR, 26,20,03,415 samples have been tested in India so far as of April 14 including 13,84,549 samples that were tested on Wednesday. The Health Ministry said that 11,44,93,238 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in India, one of the highest figures in the world.