The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,971 and the number of cases climbed to 1,73,763 in the country registering a record single-day spike of 265 deaths and 7,964 cases till Saturday 8 am, according to the Union health ministry.

India is the ninth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 86,422 while 82,369 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. In the last 24 hours, 11,264 patients have recovered.

"Thus, around 47.40 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.

The total confirmed cases includes foreigners.

Of the 265 deaths reported since Friday morning, 116 were in Maharashtra, 82 in Delhi, 20 in Gujarat, 13 in Madhya Pradesh, nine in Tamil Nadu, seven in West Bengal, four each in Telangana and Rajasthan, two in Punjab and one each in Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Of the total 4,971 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 2,098 deaths followed by Gujarat (980), Delhi (398,) Madhya Pradesh (334), West Bengal (302), Uttar Pradesh (198), Rajasthan (184), Tamil Nadu (154), Telangana (71) and Andhra Pradesh (60).

The death toll reached 48 in Karnataka, 42 in Punjab, 28 in Jammu and Kashmir, 19 in Haryana, 15 in Bihar, eight in Kerala, and seven in Odisha.

Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have registered five COVID-19 fatalities, Chandigarh and Assam have recorded four deaths each, while Meghalaya and Chhattisgarh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each so far.

More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry said.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 62,228 followed by Tamil Nadu at 20,246, Delhi at 17,386, Gujarat at 15,934, Rajasthan at 8,365, Madhya Pradesh at 7,645 and Uttar Pradesh at 7,284

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 4,813 in West Bengal, 3,376 in Bihar, 3,436 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,781 in Karnataka, 2,425 in Telangana, 2,197 in Punjab, 2,164 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1,723 in Odisha.

Haryana has reported 1,721 coronavirus cases, Kerala has 1,150 cases, Assam has 1,024, Jharkhand has 511, Uttarakhand has 716, Chhattisgarh has 415, Himachal Pradesh has 295, Chandigarh has 289, Tripura has 251, Ladakh has 74 and Goa has 69.

Manipur has reported 59 COVID-19 cases, Puducherry has 51 instances of infection while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 33 infections.

Meghalaya has registered 27 cases, Nagaland has reported 25 infections, Arunachal Pradesh have reported three cases, Dadar and Nagar Haveli has two cases while Mizoram and Sikkim have reported a case each till how.

"5,043 cases are being reassigned to states," the ministry said on its website adding, "Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR."

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.