India on Monday recorded over 68,000 COVID-19 positive, making it the highest single-day spike since October, the Union Health Ministry stated.

As many as 68,020 new COVID-19 cases and 291 deaths were registered in the country in a span of 24 hours, the health ministry stated.

India's COVID-19 caseload now stands at 1,20,39,644 while the death toll touched 1,61,843, according to the health ministry. There are 5,21,808 active COVID-19 cases in the country while as many as 1,13,55,993 people have recovered from the disease.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 40,414, followed by Karnataka with 3,082 while Punjab reported 2,870 new cases, the ministry stated.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked officials to prepare a lockdown plan as the state continues to witness a surge in COVID-19 cases.

In a meeting of the COVID-19 task force on Sunday, CM Thackeray said that people were not following safety rules.

It was suggested at the meeting that "very strict restrictions like lockdown should be imposed immediately,"the office of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in a statement.

Reports said that the lockdown is likely to be imposed this week.