India recorded 96,982 new cases of COVID-19, Union Health Ministry’s data released on Tuesday showed. 466 people died of the disease in the past 24 hours. With the fresh cases, the country’s coronavirus tally has reached 12,686,049 Death toll has risen to 165,547

Also read: PM Modi to hold meeting with CMs on April 8 over COVID-19 situation, vaccine drive

There are 788,223 active cases in the country, while 11,732,279 have recovered.

250,231,269 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus till April 5, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said. This includes 1,211,612 samples tested on Monday.

India started its vaccination drive against the disease on January 16. People are being inoculated with either of the two vaccines, Covaxin and Covishield, approved by the country.

83,110,926 people have received at least one dose of either of the two vaccines.

Also read: COVID-19 cases surge in 8 states, resulting in 81.42% of single-day infections: Health Ministry

On Sunday, India saw a massive surge in the daily number of COVID-19 cases, when the number crossed 100,000-mark for the first time since the pandemic began. The country recorded 103,558 new virus cases, the Health Ministry’s data released on Monday showed.