In an alarming sign, India reports record 115,736 new coronavirus cases in single day

• India reported a record 115,736 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday.
  
• The tally of total cases in India stands at 12.80 million.
  
• India has administered 80.9 million vaccine doses.
  

BENGALURU: As the third wave of coronavirus grips the country, India reported a record 115,736 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the total to 12.80 million, data from the health ministry showed.

Deaths rose by 630 to 166,177.

The next four weeks in India's fight against COVID-19 will be "very, very critical," said senior government health official Vinod Kumar Paul, warning that the respiratory disease was now spreading much faster than in 2020.

Read more: New Delhi imposes night curfew ahead of 'critical' four weeks in coronavirus fight

"The pandemic has worsened in the country...There is a serious rise in cases," Paul told reporters.

India, the world's second-most populous country with 1.35 billion people, has administered 80.9 million vaccine doses, the most after the United States and China, but it lags far behind in immunisations per capita.

Healthcare and similar frontline workers, as well as people over 60, have been the main recipients of vaccinations so far. Inoculations of people above 45 began only on April 1.