NEW DELHI — India’s burgeoning coronavirus cases on Sunday surpassed Spain’s tally to rank fifth in the number of infections, a day before Asia’s third-largest economy begins its first phase of unwinding the stay-at-home restrictions.

The world’s second-most populous nation added 9,971 fresh cases in last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 246,628, according to the health ministry’s update as of Sunday morning. This includes 6,929 deaths and 119,293 patients who have recovered. Over the last 24 hours, India has seen 287 deaths and 5,220 recoveries.

Indian authorities have now reported more than 9,000 fresh cases for four straight days. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, a total of 4,666,386 samples have been tested. Of these, 142,069 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

India on an average added 8,985 cases daily over the past week, overtaking Russia. That compares with Brazil adding 24,915 cases, and the US 21,413 on an average everyday in the last one week. India’s confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed the count of France, Germany and China — the nation where the pandemic actually began — among others. On Saturday, India even surged past Italy’s tally, and UK. — Agencies