New Delhi, December 18: Dr Balram Bhargava, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Chief, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. As per latest reports, he has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) trauma centre in Delhi. Bhargava deals with all matters pertaining to the coronavirus situation. In India, the coronavirus tally stood at 99,79,447 with 22,890 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours. With  338 deaths, the COVID-19 death toll reached 1,44,789, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

The COVID-19 recovery rate in India stands at 95.40 percent while the fatality rate is 1.45 as percent. The total recoveries crossed the 95 lakh-mark, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Friday. As many as  95,20,827 COVID-19 people have recovered, of whom 31,087 recovered in the last 24 hours. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said a total of 15,89,18,646 COVID-19 samples have been tested till now. Of these, 11,13,406 samples were tested on Thursday. COVID-19 Vaccination in India Will Be Voluntary, Says Health Ministry.

In India, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state with 18,88,767 cases till date. Over 70 percent of the daily new cases were being reported by 10 states and union territory and in a random order they are Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2020 08:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).