A 35-year-old Kolkata-bound passenger was deboarded from a flight in Chennai on Monday after he was found to be COVID-19 positive, officials said on Monday. The passenger, who was to fly to Kolkata with a layover in Mumbai, had a COVID-19 negative certificate.

However, the airline later received information that he was positive. He was deplaned and taken to a hospital for treatment, news agency PTI reported.

This incident comes in the backdrop of the ever-rising COVID-19 cases in India. In its highest single-day rise so far this year, India recorded 68,020 new coronavirus cases in a span of 24 hours, taking the country’s caseload to 1.20 crore.

With this, India witnessed a gradual rise in cases for the 19th day on the trot. The total active cases shot up to 5,21,808, which comprise 4.33% of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.32%, the data stated.

A total of 68,020 new cases were reported in a day, the highest recorded since October 11 last year, taking the country’s tally of cases to 1,20,39,644, while the death toll increased to 1,61,843 with 291 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

As many as 74,383 new cases were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 11.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19 last year.