India on Friday recorded 17,336 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally since the pandemic began in January 2020 to 4,33,62,294, data shared by the Union health ministry showed.

This is the highest jump in infections since February 20, according to PTI. The country had reported 16,051 cases and 206 deaths on that day.

The toll rose to 5,24,954 as 13 people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry data. On Thursday, India had logged 38 fatalities.

Source: The Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The active cases in the country also went up to 88,284 from 83,990 on Thursday. Active infections currently constitute 0.20% of the country’s total caseload.

As many as 10,972 people recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours, pushing the recovery rate to 98.6%.

According to the health ministry, 196.77 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country since the start of the inoculation drive on January 16, 2021.

On Thursday, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting to review the situation in the country.

He directed officials to focus on surveillance and genome sequencing to scan for any possible mutation of the coronavirus.

Mandaviya also asked officials to increase the pace of vaccination, including booster doses, in districts reporting a higher number of cases.