New Delhi (NVI): India has achieved another milestone in COVID-19 testing by conducting nearly 15 lakh tests in a single day, the Union Health Ministry said.
“With 14,92,409 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have touched nearly 7 crore (6,89,28,440),” the Health Ministry said in a statement.
It added that this exponential surge in the daily testing capacities strongly demonstrates the determined escalation of the testing infrastructure in the country.
The ministry also informed that the last one crore tests were conducted in merely 9 days, while the Tests Per Million (TPM) stand at 49,948 as of today.
“Evidence has revealed that higher numbers of testing subsequently leads to lowered positivity rate. The states that are testing the highest numbers are also reporting a gradual decline in the positivity rate,” it said.
The national cumulative positivity rate stands at 8.44 per cent today. Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Jharkhand and Telangana are among the states recording a positivity rate even lower than 5 per cent.
Moreover, with the expansion of testing infrastructure, the daily testing by States and Union Territories has also increased. Almost 23 States and UTs have better tests per million than the national average of 49,948 tests.
The ministry further stated, “As reiterated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as he reviewed the status and preparedness of 7 States and UTs with high burden of caseload recently, testing forms an integral pillar of COVID-19 response and management. The Centre’s three-pronged strategy of ‘TEST TRACK TREAT’ begins with testing.”
Meanwhile, the expanded diagnostic lab network has given a sharp boost to the enhanced testing numbers. India currently has network of 1,818 labs comprising 1,084 labs in the government sector and 734 private labs.
So far, the recovery rate in the country stands at 81.74 percent, while the case fatality rate (CFR) is on a continuous positive slide and currently stands at 1.59 percent, the ministry noted.
-RJV
