IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Dec 19:
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Chief Dr Balaram Bhargava who tested positive for COVID-19, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital on Friday.
Dr. Bhargava under whom all the issues pertaining to the coronavirus supervised, tested positive,when India’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 99.79 lakh with 22,890 new infections on Friday.
As per the Union Health Ministry, the total recoveries crossed the 95 lakh-mark. With 338 more fatalities, the death toll reached 1,44,789, while the total COVID-19 cases mounted to 99,79,447 by Friday morning.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 95,20,827, pushing the national recovery rate to 95.40 per cent. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below four lakh for the 12th consecutive day. There are 3,13,831 active cases in the country which comprise 3.14 per cent of the total caseload.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
According to the ICMR, so far 15,89,18,646 samples have been tested, with 11,13,406 samples tested on Thursday. The 338 new fatalities include 65 from Maharashtra, 44 from West Bengal, 35 from Delhi and 27 from Kerala. Total 1,44,789 deaths reported so far in the country include 48,499 from Maharashtra followed by 11,981 from Karnataka, 11,942 from Tamil Nadu, 10,182 from Delhi, 9,235 from West Bengal, 8,136 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,069 from Andhra Pradesh and 5,150 from Punjab.
