A health worker takes a nasal swab sample from a woman for a COVID-19 test in Bangalore, India, Oct. 7, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

 
India's COVID-19 tally reached 8,553,657 on Monday as 45,903 new cases were registered across the country in the past 24 hours, said the latest data released by the federal health ministry.

With 490 deaths since Sunday morning, the death toll in the country due to the pandemic reached 126,611, showed the ministry's data.

Still there are 509,673 active COVID-19 cases in the country, while 7,917,373 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 country.

Till Sunday a total of 118,572,192 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country, out of which 835,401 tests were conducted on Sunday alone, revealed the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday.

The capital city New Delhi has been witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases over the past couple of weeks, which was termed as the third wave for Delhi.

Last week Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a ban on 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 COVID-19 cases in the national capital.