NEW DELHI: India detected 1,26,789 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest so far. Of the total, Maharashtra recorded a new high of 59,907 cases, while Chhattisgarh’s count went past the 10,000-mark for the first time.

Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, too, reported more than 6,000 cases. The country also recorded 685 related deaths. India’s caseload now stands at 1,29,28,574, of which 8,43,473 are active cases and 1,18,51,393 people have recovered from the virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting with all Chief Ministers today to discuss the measures to control the pandemic-triggered crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took the second dose of the Covid vaccine at Delhi's AIIMS. "Vaccination is among the few ways we have, to defeat the virus. If you are eligible for the vaccine, get your shot soon.

Register on CoWin.gov.in," he tweeted. In terms of the total caseload, Maharashtra is followed by the southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

New Zealand has temporarily stopped entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks following a high number of positive coronavirus cases arriving from India.

Over 29.79 lakh vaccinations in the last 24 hours pushed the total number of vaccine doses administered so far to over nine crore.