Mumbai: Maharashtra, the worst-hit state by the novel coronavirus on Wednesday achieved one grimmer mark. Maharashtra witnessed 17,433 new coronavirus cases which is its highest single-day taking the tally of positive cases to over 8 lakh. This count is more than the number of COVID-19 infection cases in fifth worst-affected country Peru.

Peru’s total count for the novel virus stands at 6,52,037. Next in the table is Russia with 10,05,000. And Maharashtra is not far behind the million mark, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Maharashtra’s previous biggest one-day count was 16,867 cases which was witnessed on August 29. The reason for high caseload is the rate at which the contagion is spreading in the state. It took 51 days for the state to reach the two lakh active cases mark; the number had crossed 1 lakh mark on July 12, 126 days from the first reported case on March 9.

The epicentre of the contagion is also nearly 22 per cent of India’s coronavirus tally. The state took the lead since the early days of the spread in the nation. The state also reported 292 new fatalities, 34 of them in Mumbai city, pushing up the death tally to 25,195, according to the state health department.