With 45,209 new cases of COVID-19 recorded, India’s total tally has risen to 90,95,807, the Health Ministry’s data released on Saturday showed.

In the past 24 hours, 501 died of the disease. Thus, India’s coronavirus death tally has reached 1,33,227.

There are 4,40,962 active cases in the country, while total discharged cases stand at 85,21,617 with 43,493 new discharges in last 24 hrs.

A total of 13,17,33,134 COVID-19 samples were tested, up to 21st November. Of these, 10,75,326 samples were tested yesterday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.  

India reported its first COVID-19 case on January 30. It has now emerged as the second-worst hit nation by the virus.

The United States on Saturday surpassed 12 million COVID-19 cases, according to the running tally of John Hopkins University. The country has recorded 255,414 deaths until now.

The novel coronavirus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year. It has globally infected more than 56.7 million people.

There is, however, a new sign of hope: US biotech giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech announced Friday they will seek approval to roll out their coronavirus vaccine early.