NEW DELHI: India recorded the biggest single-day spike of 2,293 coronavirus cases, taking the total to 37,336, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday morning, adding that 1,218 deaths linked to the highly infectious COVID-19 have been reported so far.

Seventy-one deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. The nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus, has been extended by two more weeks, the government said on Friday. Restrictions will be further eased in this phase of lockdown - third since the shutdown began - to boost economy hit hard by the pandemic. The home ministry has announced new guidelines based on the demarcation of the country into red zones with "significant risk of spread of the infection"; green zones with either zero cases or no confirmed cases in the past 21 days; and those in between as orange.

India's most economically-important cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad - are all marked red zones; the cities will stay under strict lockdown for the next two weeks. As government eases curbs in some parts, travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road will remain banned across the country. Schools, colleges, hotels, restaurants; cinemas, malls, shopping centres, gyms and sports complexes will also stay shut. Gatherings -- social, political, cultural and religious -- will also not resume for now.

The recovery rate - number of patients who have successfully fought the illness - stood at 26.64 per cent this morning. A total of 9,951 patients have recovered so far.