File Photo: Xinhua

 India's federal health ministry said on Thursday morning that 29 new deaths due to COVID-19 and 922 new positive cases were reported since last evening across the country, taking the number of deaths to 681 and total cases to 21,393.

"As on 8:00 a.m. (local time) today, 681 deaths related to novel coronavirus have been recorded in the country," reads the information released by the ministry.

According to ministry officials, so far 4,258 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

"The number of active cases in the country right now is 16,454," reads the information.

Thursday marks the 30th straight day of an ongoing lockdown across the country announced by the government to contain the spread of the pandemic. The lockdown which was announced on March 25 has been extended until May 3.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be interacting with all state Chief Ministers on April 27 through video conferencing. This will be Modi's third video conference with all the Chief Ministers since the lockdown was imposed in the country to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.