NEW DELHI — Another day and another steep spike in COVID-19 cases in India as the country’s tally rose to 440,215 on Tuesday with over 14,000 fresh infections reported in the last 24 hours. The number of recoveries also touched another high with nearly 11,000 patients getting cured in the last 24 hours. So far, over 248,000 people have recovered from the disease across India while over 14,000 have succumbed to death.

Nearly 70 percent of India’s total coronavirus cases come from the top five states that include Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Together, these states account for over 300,000 cases of the country’s total 440,000 cases.

With over 130,000 cases, Maharashtra’s tally is officially more than that of countries like Canada, Bangladesh and others. Over 67,706 people have recovered from coronavirus in Maharashtra while 6,283 have died. Mumbai continues to be the worst affected city with over 66,000 cases.

The situation in the national capital paints a grim picture as the cases here have now crossed the 60,000-mark. Delhi has 62,655 positive cases with 36,602 recovered patients and 2,233 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu stands third on the tally with 62,087 coronavirus cases. The state has seen seven hundred and ninety-four coronavirus fatalities while 34,112 have recovered.

In Gujarat, the COVID-19 cases rose to 27,825 on Tuesday. The state has seen 19,909 people recover from coronavirus while 1,684 people have died.

Uttar Pradesh is the fifth top affected state. The COVID-19 tally here has jumped to 18,322 while the number of recoveries has touched 11,601. The state’s death toll stands at 569.

Rajasthan, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have over 10,000 coronavirus cases but less than 20,000.

The southern Indian state of Karnataka has witnessed over 9,000 coronavirus cases till date with 142 fatalities. COVID-19 cases in Bihar stand at 7,825 while Andhra Pradesh has reported 9,372 cases till date.

Telangana has 8,674 coronavirus cases while the tally in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 6,088. In Odisha, cases have jumped to 5,303 while Assam has reported 5,586 cases till date. Punjab’s tally has crossed the 4,000-mark. COVID-19 cases in Kerala are more than 3,000.

'Bengaluru will become Brazil'

Opposition leader in the southern states of Kartaka, H.D. Kumaraswamy, has asked the government to impose a lockdown for another 20 days. Kumaraswamy linked the rise in coronavirus cases in India to the ease in restrictions. An immediate shutdown should also be announced in Karnataka, "especially for Bengaluru", the 60-year-old leader said, adding that "Bengaluru will become another Brazil" if stricter restrictions are not put in place.

Bengaluru is the capital of the state.

In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy said coronavirus had been spreading fast after the government unveiled the plan to "unlock" India.

"Stop playing with human lives. It will not serve any purpose to seal a few areas. If you care for the human lives in Bengaluru, shut down the city totally for 20 days. Else, Bengaluru will become another Brazil. People's lives are more important than the economy," he wrote in Kannada, attacking the state government.

India is the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic after the United States, Brazil and Russia. — Agencies