The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India Tuesday morning rose to 25,228,996 and the related death toll across the country stands at 278,719, India's federal health ministry said.

During the past 24 hours, 263,533 new cases and 4,329 related deaths were reported from across the country.

It is for the second time since April 21 that new COVID-19 cases reported on a daily basis have fallen below the 300,000 mark. However, the daily death toll is so far the highest.

According to ministry officials, 21,596,512 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

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The number of active cases in the country right now is 3,353,765, the information released by the ministry further reads.

Meanwhile, a total of 318,292,881 samples have been tested up to Monday, the Indian Council of Medical Research said on Tuesday. Out of these tests, 1,869,223 were conducted on Monday alone.

According to the ministry, over 184 million (184,453,149) people have been vaccinated across the country since the beginning of the vaccination drive on Jan. 16 this year.

On May 1, the third phase of COVID-19 vaccinations was started for people who are 18 years and above. However, the third phase of vaccination is yet to start in many places or is going on at a slower pace in wake of the severe shortage of vaccines.

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Reports pouring in from many states said people are being turned away at the centers because of the shortage of vaccines.

The COVID-19 cases continue to spike in the country every day, as the federal government has ruled out imposing a complete countrywide lockdown on the pattern of last year contain the worsening situation. However, many states have imposed night curfews, weekend lockdowns and complete lockdowns to break the spread of infection.