India records 18,855 fresh cases, 163 more fatalities; recoveryat 96.96%

With 18,855fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has gone up to 1,07,20,048, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,03,94,352, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.96 per cent, the health ministry said on Friday.

The death toll due to the viral disease has climbed to 1,54,010 in the country with 163 more fatalities, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,03,94,352, pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.96 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.44per cent.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the country remained below two lakh for the 10th consecutive day.

There are1,71,686 active coronavirus cases in the country, which accounts for only 1.60 per cent of the total number of cases, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16.

It went past60 lakh on September 28,70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 19,50,81,079 samples have been tested for the viral disease across the country, including 7,42,306on Thursday.