F1 ace Hamilton 'praying for COVID-hit India'

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has expressed his concerns about the alarming COVID-19 situation in India.

The British racing driver has sent in his good wishes as the country battled a massive second wave of the coronavirus with daily cases going past three lakh.

"Praying for the beautiful people of India this morning. I know this pandemic is hitting so many places around the world. Please stay safe out there," Hamilton wrote on his Instagram page.

India registered over 3.14 lakh new cases on Thursday morning, pushing the overall caseload to nearly 1.60 crore, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This is the highest single-day spike the country recorded ever since the pandemic began last year.

India also reported over 2100 fresh deaths due to the virus with maximum fatalities being reported from Maharashtra at 568, followed by Delhi at 249. So far, over 1.84 thousand COVID patients have succumbed to the infection across the country.

Delhi and Lucknow are dealing with acute shortage of oxygen cylinders and hospital beds, which has attracted global attention.