INDIA'S COVID TALLY HITS 20 MILLION

India's COVID-19 tally crossed the 20-million mark, reaching 20,282,833 on Tuesday, as 357,229 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, confirmed the federal health ministry.

Another 3,449 deaths were reported since Monday morning, taking the death toll to 222,408, according to a report from Xinhua news agency.

There are a total of 3,447,133 active cases in the country, with an increase of 33,491 through Monday, while 16,613,292 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far.

The COVID-19 figures continue to peak in the country, but the federal government has ruled out imposing a complete lockdown. Some states have imposed night curfews or partial lockdowns, while the capital New Delhi has been put under a third successive lockdown till May 10.

Meanwhile, 293,310,779 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in India till Monday, out of which 1,663,742 tests were conducted on Monday alone, said the latest data issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday.

The national capital New Delhi, one of the most COVID-19 affected places in the country, witnessed 18,043 new cases and 448 more deaths through Monday.

So far 17,414 people have died in the national capital due to COVID-19, confirmed Delhi's health department. The third phase of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination began on May 1. So far, over 158 million vaccination doses have been administered in India since the country kicked off its inoculation drive in January.

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