NEW DELHI, Oct 24 (Xinhua): India's COVID-19 tally reached 7,814,682 as 53,370 more cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data released by the federal health ministry on Saturday.
The death toll surged to 117,956, with 650 deaths recorded since Friday morning.
Still there are 680,680 active COVID-19 cases in the country. In all 7,016,046 people have been successfully cured.
This is the second consecutive day when the number of active COVID-19 cases has been below the 700,000-mark in the country. It is also the first day when the total number of people cured crossed the 7-million mark.
Indian government's focus has been on ramping up COVID-19 testing facilities across the length and breadth of the country.
Till Friday a total of 101,382,564 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country, out of which 1,269,479 tests were conducted on Friday alone, revealed the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Earlier this week the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cautioned the citizens to strictly follow the COVID-19 guidelines and be safe from the pandemic.
Adequate care should be taken by the countrymen amid the ongoing festive season when large crowds are witnessed in market areas, he added.
In a televised address to the nation, Modi appealed to all the countrymen to wear masks while venturing out of homes, regularly wash hands and maintain social distancing as, according to him, the lockdown was over but the virus had not been over yet.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that it is right of every citizen to get coronavirus vaccine for free."The entire country should get the vaccine for free, it is everyone's right.
We will see when the vaccine comes, what it's like and how much it costs," Kejriwal told reporters on being asked if his government would provide vaccine for free to residents.
On Thursday, BJP released its manifesto for three-phased Bihar elections and promised that after the approval of the coronavirus vaccine from ICMR, every person in the State will get vaccinated free of cost.
Maharashtra's coronavirus tally on Friday increased to 16,32,544 with 7,347 new cases coming to light. The state reported 184 fatalities, taking the death toll to 43,015.
As many as 13,247 patients were discharged after treatment, taking the tally of recovered people to 14,45,103.Mumbai reported 1,470 new cases, which pushed its caseload to 2,48,802, while the death toll in the city rose to 10,009 with 48 fatalities being recorded on Friday.
On the other hand, Pune district added 721 fresh cases, taking the case tally to 3,18,329. With as many as 39 patients succumbing to the virus on Friday, the death toll has touched 7,639 in the district.
Maharashtra government has given the green signal to BEST to operate buses at full capacity, meaning more passengers will be able to avail the service.
