India reported 46,951 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest single-day rise since Nov. 12 and the sixth consecutive daily increase in infections, according to figures from the country's health ministry. The country has recorded a total of 11,646,081 cases, including 159,967 fatalities, since the beginning of the pandemic. The jump in infections comes almost a year since India's first nationwide lockdown. On March 22 last year, India announced a "janta curfew" or people's curfew for 14 hours, forcing the country's 1.3 billion-strong population indoors. A nationwide lockdown followed on March 24 and lasted for nearly three months. According to the Indian health ministry on Sunday, five states including Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh accounted for 77 percent of the cases reported over the previous 24 hours. Maharashtra on Friday restricted the number of people that can enter theaters and auditoriums to 50 percent, in addition to a previously imposed cap of 50 percent on office staff until March 31. Several districts in the state have also imposed full or partial lockdowns. The state's capital, Mumbai, will also be conducting rapid antigen tests at random in crowded places such as malls, railway stations, bus depots, and markets among other places. In the state of Punjab, night curfews are in place. In Gujarat state, schools and colleges are shut in eight metropolitan cities and a night curfew has been imposed in Ahmedabad city. "In Punjab, Maharashtra, six to seven states contribute more than 86 percent of the caseload, so in these states, extra safety and awareness is required," Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday. India has distributed 45,065,998 vaccine doses since Jan. 16, according to the health ministry on Monday. — Courtesy CNN
