India's COVID-19 tally crosses 21 mln with over 410,000 new cases

NEW DELHI - India's COVID-19 tally surpassed 21 million on Thursday as 412,262 new cases were registered across the country in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.

This is the second time this month that over 400,000 cases have been registered in a single day.

Besides, as many as 3,980 deaths, maximum so far, took place in the country since Wednesday morning, taking the total death toll to 230,168, added the health ministry.

There are still 3,566,398 active cases in the country, with an increase of 79,169 active cases through Wednesday. A total of 17,280,844 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals so far across the country.

The COVID-19 figures continue to peak in the country every day, as the federal government has ruled out a complete lockdown to contain the worsening situation. Though some states have imposed night curfews or partial lockdowns.

Only on Wednesday Principal Scientific Advisor to India's Federal Government K. Vijay Raghavan stated that a third COVID-19 wave was inevitable in the country.

Delhi has been put under a third successive lockdown till May 10. While some school examinations stand cancelled, others have been postponed in the wake of COVID-19 situation.

The number of daily active cases has been on the rise over the past few weeks. In January the number of daily cases in the country had come down to below-10,000.

India kick off the nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off on Jan. 16. So far over 162 million vaccination doses have been administered to the people across the country.

Online registration began last Wednesday for vaccinating people aged above 18. This is the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination, which began on May 1.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities across the country, as over 296 million tests have been conducted so far.

As many as 296,775,209 tests were conducted till Wednesday, out of which 1,923,131 tests were conducted on Wednesday alone, said the latest data issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday.

The national capital Delhi, which has been one of the most COVID-19 affected places in the country, witnessed 20,960 new cases and 311 deaths through Wednesday.

So far as many as 18,063 people have died in the national capital due to COVID-19, confirmed the Delhi's health department.

Two types of vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - are being administered to the people in India.

India received its first doses of Sputnik V, the Russian-made vaccine, on Saturday.