India reports eighth record daily increase in COVID-19 cases in last nine days

• India reports another record daily rise in COVID-19 infections.
• India's deaths from COVID-19 rose by 1,185 to reach a total of 174,308, the data showed.
• From reporting less than 10,000 cases per day earlier this year, India has been the world's worst-hit country since April 2 by new daily cases.

India reported a record daily increase of 217,353 COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Friday.

It was the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days. Total cases reached nearly 14.3 million, second only to the United States which has reported more than 31 million infections.

India's deaths from COVID-19 rose by 1,185 to reach a total of 174,308, the data showed.

Read more: India reports over 200,000 new coronavirus infections for the first time

From reporting less than 10,000 cases per day earlier this year, India has been the world's worst-hit country since April 2 by new daily cases, with the government blaming here a widespread failure to heed curbs on movement and social interaction.

India’s richest state Maharashtra, the epicentre of the national second wave and which accounts for about a quarter of the country’s cases, has imposed stringent restrictions to try to contain the spread.

Elsewhere, overstretched private hospitals are turning patients away, placing an increasing burden on government facilities.