Nearly 900 new novel coronavirus cases and 37 deaths have been reported over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said this evening in its daily briefing. This is the largest ever single-day spike in the number of cases and deaths, the ministry added, and takes the total number of COVID-19 cases in India to 6,761 with at least 206 deaths linked to the virus. The surge in cases comes on a day when the World Health Organisation initially claimed India had entered Stage 3, or "community transmission" of the virus, - a claim it retracted hours later. The country is near the end of a 21-day "total lockdown" imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to contain the spread of the virus. The Prime Minister is expected to address the nation this week to clarify whether the lockdown will be extended.
