India's total of 78,761 new cases exceeded the previous record of 77,299. File photo

India reported 78,512 new novel coronavirus infections on Monday, slightly fewer than its record set the previous day when it posted the biggest, single-day tally of infections of any country in the pandemic.

On Sunday, India's total of 78,761 new cases exceeded the previous record of 77,299 in the United States on July 16, a Reuters tally of official data showed.

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India, the world's second-most populous country, has been posting the highest single-day caseload in the world every day since Aug. 7, exceeding the tallies of both the United States and Brazil.

At 3.62 million total cases, India is fast catching up to these two countries in terms of cumulative caseload, but it has relatively lower death rate.

India's deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, went up by 971 in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 64,469, the health ministry said.