India's daily COVID-19 new cases, deaths both hit record high

NEW DELHI - India's daily COVID-19 new cases reached 332,730 and new deaths hit 2,263 during the past 24 hours, both hitting historic high, the government health ministry said Friday.

The total tally surpassed the 16-million mark, reaching 16,263,695 and the death toll increased to 186,920.

This was the second consecutive day when over 300,000 cases were registered in a single day.

There are still a total of 2,428,616 active cases in the country, with an increase of 137,188 through Thursday, as 13,648,159 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals across the country.

The daily figures continue to peak in the country, and the government has imposed new measures to contain the spread. Some school exams have been canceled or postponed in the wake of the deteriorating situation.

India kicked off a nationwide vaccination drive in January, and so far over 135 million vaccination doses have been administered across the country.

Meanwhile, a total of 274,445,653 tests were conducted in India till Thursday, out of which 1,740,550 tests were conducted on Thursday alone, said the latest data issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday.

The national capital Delhi, one of the most affected places in the country, witnessed 26,169 new cases and 306 deaths through Thursday.

So far 13,193 people have died in the national capital due to COVID-19, said Delhi's health department.

Delhi has been put under a weeklong lockdown till April 26.