India recorded 173,790 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the tally to reach 27,729,247, the Union Health Ministry’s data released on Saturday showed. As many as 3,617 coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll to 322,512.

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There are 2,228,724 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 25,178,011 have recovered, of whom

284,601 were discharged on Friday.

As many as 34,11,19,909 samples for coronavirus have been tested till May 28, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said. This includes 20,80,048 samples tested on Friday.

India started its mass inoculation drive against the novel coronavirus on January 16. Till now, 2,08,902,445 people have received at least a single dose of the vaccines approved by the country. 

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The country has been battling an intense second coronavirus case since last month, which has claimed several lives and brought the healthcare sector to a breaking point.