NEW DELHI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- India's death toll due to COVID-19 pandemic crossed the 400,000-mark on Friday, said the federal health ministry.
As many as 853 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the country's death toll to 400,312.
Besides, 46,617 new cases since Thursday morning took the total tally to 30,458,251.
There are still 509,637 active cases in the country, with a decrease of 13,620 during the period.
Since the pandemic hit the country, a total of 29,548,302 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, with 59,384 of them discharged during the past 24 hours.
Although the pandemic situation is easing down in India, a few states are still reporting a high number of COVID-19 cases, including Kerala, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Manipur.
The federal government has sent multi-disciplinary teams to these states to monitor the pandemic control, including sample testing, surveillance and containment operations, the COVID Appropriate Behavior (CAB) and its enforcement, availability of hospital beds, ambulances, ventilators, and medical oxygen, among others.
Meanwhile, the federal government on Friday approved the vaccination of pregnant women against COVID-19, based on recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI).
The decision empowers pregnant women to make an informed choice on taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
