India's daily virus cases soar over 75,000

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – India reported over 75,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 1,000 fatalities on Thursday.

At least 75,760 more people tested positive for COVID-19, the country’s highest daily figure to date, taking the total past 3.31 million, according to the Health Ministry’s latest data.

The nationwide death toll increased by 1,023 in the past day and now stands at 60,472.

With 718,711 infections, the western state of Maharashtra remains India’s worst-hit region.

At least 106 members of the state police force tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the Maharashtra police said.

A total of 14,295 police personnel have contracted the virus so far and 146 have died, it added.

A special team is also visiting the eastern state of Bihar, which has seen the most cases in recent weeks, on Thursday.

- Vaccine trial

Two men are in normal condition after receiving doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by researchers at Oxford University.

They were inoculated and kept under observation, said the company manufacturing the vaccine.

The Phase-II human clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, began on Wednesday.