India registered its biggest surge in coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours with 19,906 new patients Sunday, the Health Ministry said.

The tally of cases has now reached 528,859 in the country.

The death toll hit 16,095 after 410 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Guwahati, the capital of the northeastern state of Assam, will be placed under complete lockdown for a period of 14 days to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

There will be no supply of vegetables and other essentials items for the first seven days, the state government in a statement said.

The western state of Maharashtra with 159,133 cases still ranks first in terms of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Delhi with 80,000 cases is the worst-affected city in the country. The total number of deaths has reached 2,558 in the capital.

Meanwhile, the Indian government on Saturday allowed the use of Dexamethasone as an alternative choice to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. The change was made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation, according to an official statement by the government.

India ranks fourth in the countries worst-hit by the pandemic, after the United States, Brazil and Russia.