NEW DELHI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- As many as 420 doctors have died in India, including at least 100 in Delhi, in the ongoing second wave of COVID-19, confirmed the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday.

The second wave of the pandemic continues to grip India, as the single day spike surpassed 400,000 on many occasions, and daily deaths crossed the 4,000-mark.

According to the IMA's official website, a total of 864 doctors have died ever since the pandemic hit the country from the beginning of 2020.

"Many have left behind families and children who require help for sustenance, education, and upbringing," says a pop up on the home page of IMA's website.

On Saturday the country's COVID-19 tally rose to 26,289,290 with 257,299 new cases registered in the past 24 hours, according to the data released by the federal Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Besides, 4,194 deaths since Friday morning took the death toll to 295,525.

After declining to 3,874 on Thursday, the single day deaths have once again peaked beyond the 4,000-mark for the past two days.

There are still 2,923,400 active cases in the country, a decrease of 104,525 cases in the past 24 hours. The number of daily active cases has been on the decline over the past few days, after a continuous surge since mid-April.

A total of 23,070,365 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals so far across the country, the federal Ministry of Health and Family Welfare added.