File photo:VCG

 India recorded the highest ever single-day spike of 55,078 of fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total tally to 1,638,870, according to the federal health ministry's latest data.

This is the second consecutive day when fresh COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 50,000.

As many as 779 people died during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the total deaths to 35,747, said the ministry's data.

India is currently the third most COVID-affected country in the world, after the United States and Brazil, and the worst-affected in Asia.

There are still 545,318 active cases admitted in hospitals in the country, while 1,057,805 people have been cured and discharged.

The recent spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases is mainly attributed to the increased testing of samples. Over 18.8 million samples have been tested so far across the country.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 18,832,970 samples have been tested till July 30, with as many as 642,588 samples tested on Thursday alone. Efforts are being made to ramp up the per day testing of samples to over one million, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi a couple of days ago.

The country will enter the Unlock-3 phase from Saturday. As per the fresh guidelines, schools and educational institutions will continue to remain shut till Aug. 31. Restrictions on movement of individuals during night (or night curfew) have been removed.

Yoga institutes and gymnasiums will be allowed to open in the first week of August.