Fear of the second wave of COVID-19 looms large in India as 46,951 new cases reported during the past 24 hours took the total tally to 11,646,081, according to the data issued by the federal health ministry on Monday.

Meanwhile, 212 more deaths recorded during the past 24 hours took the death toll to 159,967.

Both the numbers of new cases and additional deaths are the highest so far this year.

Last week Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern at the sudden rise in COVID-19 cases, calling for immediate steps to curb a possible second wave of the pandemic in the country.

There are still 334,646 active cases in the country, while 11,151,468 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.

There was an increase of 25,559 active cases during the previous 24 hours, out of which a maximum of 19,122 cases were reported from the southwestern state of Maharashtra.

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So far over 45 million people have been vaccinated across the country since the nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off on Jan. 16.

Meanwhile, the federal government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities across the country, as more than 234 million tests have been conducted so far.

Also read: India's records nearly 29,000 new COVID-19 cases, highest daily spike this year

The national capital Delhi, one of the most COVID-19 affected places in the country, has been witnessing comparatively a lower number of cases over past several months with 823 new cases and one death registered through Sunday. The death toll of the national capital stood at 10,956.

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