India, still struggling to contain the second wave of the pandemic, registered  62,224 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, a marginal rise from the previous day, data revealed by the Ministry of Health revealed on Wednesday.

In the past 24 hours, 2542 people died due to the deadly virus,  IBNS said. The death toll due to the virus in India now stands at 379,573.

There are 865,432 active cases in country of 1.3 billion at present.

Meanwhile, in a relaxation of vaccination norms, the health ministry said that anyone over the age of 18 can walk into the nearest vaccination centre to get registered on the CoWIN digital platform and then get inoculated against COVID-19. From now on, pre-registration for vaccination through online registration and prior booking of appointment is not mandatory to avail vaccination.

The government said it seeks to increase the pace of vaccinations and tackle the 'vaccine hesitancy' after being blamed for the slow rollout of vaccines in parts of the country, including rural areas.

The government has already opened up walk-in vaccinations for people over 18.

Meanwhile, the cumulative COVID Vaccination Coverage in India crossed 260 million on Tuesday, the ministry said. (SAM)