NEW DELHI — More than 320,000 people have been infected with the Covid-19 strain of coronavirus in India, with the pace of new cases increasing at a time the country is reopening for business. India added nearly 12,000 cases in the 24 hours, taking the total tally to 3,20,922.

Authorities reported 11,929 new cases, 311 deaths and 8,049 recoveries in the last 24 hours. That’s the highest ever fresh cases and second highest recoveries reported so far.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold talks with state chief ministers next week amid the continued spread of the virus in the country. Even with the rising cases, authorities continued to assert that there is no community transmission in the country.

The Supreme Court has, however, taken cognizance of the increase in cases and issued notices to Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on their handling of the pandemic. On Friday, Maharashtra became the first state in the country to cross the grim milestone of 100,000 cases.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said coronavirus tests will be doubled in Delhi in the next two days and subsequently increased by three times.

Shah, who chaired a meeting on the spiraling cases of the pandemic in the city, announced a slew of measures that will be taken. The meeting was attended by Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baija and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The Covid-19 tests will be started at every polling station in the containment zones of Delhi in a few days and a comprehensive house-to-house health survey will be done in the hotspots for contact tracing, Shah said. He added that his government would also provide 500 railway coaches to Delhi in view of the shortage of beds for Covid-19 patients.

The Covid-19 tally has reached nearly 39,000 and the virus has claimed more than 1,200 lives so far in Delhi. — Agencies