India recorded 22,854 new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), which took the nationwide tally to 11,285,561, according to a Union health ministry bulletin on Thursday.

The number of active cases went up by 4,628, and currently stand at 1,89,226, the health ministry bulletin said.

It also said that 126 people died due to the infection, which pushed the death toll up to 1,58,189. The number of those cured or discharged from hospitals reached 10,938,146.

This is only the third time in 2021 that the country’s daily caseload has crossed the 20,000-mark – the previous two instances were in the first week of January when the first wave of Covid cases was receding.

The ministry said on Wednesday that six states – Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu – account for 83.76 per cent of fresh Covid-19 cases. Maharashtra, the worst-affected state of the lot, reported 13,659 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, its first one-day spike in excess of 13,000 in 2021 and highest in 154 days. The state has till date recorded 2,252,057 infections.

The health ministry further said that the total number of tests conducted in India so far has crossed 22 crore-mark and the daily positivity rate stood at 2.43 per cent.

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 2.52 crore with 9.22 lakh jabs given on Wednesday till 7 pm, the Union health ministry said.

Of the 2,52,89,693 vaccine doses administered, 71,70,519 healthcare and 70,31,147 frontline workers were given the first dose, while 39,77,407 healthcare and 5,82,118 frontline workers the second dose, according to a provisional report.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers receiving vaccine jabs. Immunisation of frontline workers started on February 2.

The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.