India's surge in new coronavirus cases has reached nearly 70,000 daily, sparking fears it may in the coming weeks overtake the world's top two infection hot spots, the United States and Brazil.

The number of cases in the South Asian country crossed three million on Saturday, just 15 days after it hit over two million cases. However, the fatality rate fell to 1.87 per cent of cases. Another 912 fatalities were recorded yesterday, bringing the official death toll to 56,706.

Still, concerns remain that rising numbers could soon overwhelm the country's healthcare system.

Worldwide, the number of Covid-19 deaths passed 804,000 on Saturday as cases rose to more than 23 million.

Meanwhile, South Korea continued to battle resurgent infections at the weekend, reporting nearly 400 new cases yesterday