NEW DELHI: There is no need to panic about the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country, said Minister of State (MoS) for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Wednesday while emphasizing the need to take precautions against the infection.

"There is no need to panic looking at the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. The Centre and state governments have done the planning. We have increased testing. With an increasing number of cases, the recovery rate has also climbed to 49 percent. Around 3.5 lakhs dedicated COVID-19 ICU beds are ready. We all have to stay alert," Choubey told ANI.

India on Wednesday reported the highest single-day spike of 8,909 new COVID-19 cases and 217 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The total number of cases in the country has now reached 207,615 including 101,497 active cases, 100,303 cured/discharged/migrated, and 5,815 deaths. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 41,03,233 samples have been tested until now.