NEW DELHI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- India's health ministry Friday morning said 740 new deaths due to COVID-19, besides fresh 49,310 positive cases, were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 30,601 and total cases to 1,287,945.

This is the highest single day spike in the number of fresh positive COVID-19 cases in the country so far.

According to ministry officials, so far 817,209 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

"The number of active cases in the country right now is 440,135," reads information released by the ministry.

As per the figures of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested as of July 23 is 15,428,170, including 352,801 samples tested on Thursday.

The government of northeastern state of Manipur had decided to impose a strict two-week lockdown with effect from 2:00 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Presently the country has entered Unlock 2.0 phase, though restrictions remain in full force inside the COVID-19 containment zones.