NEW DELHI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India rose to 24,372,907 and the death toll reached 266,207 on Saturday morning, India's federal health ministry said.

During the past 24 hours, 326,098 new cases and 3,890 related deaths were reported across the country.

According to the ministry, 20,432,898 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.

The number of active cases in the country is 3,673,802, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, a total of 313,017,193 samples have been tested across the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said Saturday. Out of these tests, 1,693,093 were conducted on Friday alone.

According to the ministry, 18,0457,579 people have been vaccinated across the country since the beginning of the vaccination drive on Jan. 16.

On May 1, the third phase of COVID-19 vaccinations was started for people who are 18 years old and above. However, the third phase of vaccination is yet to start in many places or is going on at a slower pace in wake of the severe shortage of vaccines.

The confirmed cases continue to spike in the country every day, and the federal government has ruled out imposing a complete countrywide lockdown on the pattern of last year to contain the worsening situation. However, many states have imposed night curfews, weekend lockdowns and complete lockdowns to break the spread.

A top scientific adviser to the Indian government, K Vijay Raghavan recently warned the country would face a third wave of the pandemic.

Currently, India is fighting a deadly second wave of COVID-19, and the shortage of essential medical supplies including medical oxygen has emerged as a key challenge for the government.