A man takes his mother for a COVID-19 test in Srinagar city, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

 
India's COVID-19 tally reached 8,507,754 on Sunday as 45,674 new cases were registered across the country in the past 24 hours, according to the latest data released by the health ministry.

With 559 deaths since Saturday morning, the death toll in the country due to the pandemic reached 126,121, showed the ministry's data.

Still there are 512,665 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 7,868,968 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals so far.

The Indian government has been focusing on ramping up COVID-19 testing facilities across the length and breadth of the country.

Till Friday a total of 116,542,304 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the country, out of which 1,113,209 tests were conducted on Friday alone, revealed the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday.

New Delhi has been witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases over the past few days as the total count in the Indian capital crossed the 400,000-mark on Tuesday. This is being termed as the third COVID-19 wave for Delhi.

On Thursday Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal banned bursting of all kinds of firecrackers in the run-up to the forthcoming festival of lights Diwali, which falls on Nov. 14, in a bid to control both the air pollution levels and the COVID-19 cases in the national capital.