With 4,209 deaths, daily COVID toll continues to rise; cases drop to 259,591

India recorded 259,591 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. The nation’s tally of COVID-19 cases now stands at 2,60,31,991. On Thursday, 4,209 people died from COVID-19 across India, the death toll from coronavirus infection in the country has now jumped to 2,91,331

There are currently  30,27,925 active cases of COVID-19 in India. A total of 

357,295 people recovered from the coronavirus infection on Thursday. The tally of recovered COVID-19 cases in India now stands at 2,27,12,735.

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The Indian Council of Medical Research on Friday said that 20,61,683 samples for COVID-19 were tested across the nation in the past 24 hours. As of May 20, up to 32,44,17,870 samples for COVID-19 have been tested across India, the ICMR said.

India kicked off its mass vaccination programme against COVID-19 on January 16, starting with healthcare and frontline workers, and as of May 21, 19,18,79,503 people have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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On May 14, India administered its first foreign-made vaccine dose of Russia’s Sputnik V. The first batch of Sputnik V reportedly contains about 150,000 doses, each jab in it costing Rs 948 alongside 5% of GST.