India has announced that it is planning to further ease its strict nationwide lockdown even though the country has reported a record daily rise in new coronavirus cases.

From June 8, hotels, restaurants, shopping centres and places of worship are due to be allowed to re-open in many areas in the country in the first stage of a three-phase plan.

In the weeks to follow, schools and colleges will then be set to resume teaching.

But areas with a high number of Covid-19 cases will remain under a tight lockdown.

The plan come following India registering a record single-day rise in confirmed infections, with nearly 8,000 cases reported in one day.

With a population totalling some 1.3 billion people, the country has recorded around 174,500 Covid-19 cases with a death toll in excess of 5,000 in total.

It went into a strict lockdown over two months ago when the confirmed caseload was in the hundreds.

Data has suggested that the decision did prevent the loss of some 37,000 to as much as 78,000 lives.