Till Friday, 1,58,49,068 COVID tests had been conducted in the country (Representational)
India, the world's third worst-hit country by coronavirus after US and Brazil, has gradually ramped-up its COVID testing capacity and has conducted over 4.20 lakh tests in a day, the highest ever, the Union Health Ministry said Saturday, crediting the increase in number of labs for the achievement.
When the outbreak of the contagion began in January, India, a country of over 1.3 billion people, had only one lab equipped to conduct the COVID test. But within 6 months, the number of labs, certified to conduct the coronavirus test, has risen to 1,301. This also includes the private labs who have acquired test kits and have joined the fight against coronavirus.
The country is also witnessing a steady rise in Tests Per Million (TPM) with an increase in the number of labs and adoption of the centre's 'test, track, treat' strategy. With 4,20,898 samples tested in the past 24 hours, the TPM has increased to 11,485 and it continues to maintain an upward trend, the ministry said.
The Health Ministry said that revised guidelines provided by the country's top medical body Indian Council Of Medical research (ICMR) and the all-round efforts by states to curb the spread of the deadly virus have also helped in conducting widespread tests.
Till Friday, 1,58,49,068 COVID tests had been conducted in the country. 3.5 lakh tests are now being conducted every day over the last one week, the ministry said.
"The Union government has advised all state and UT governments to keep up the strategy of 'Test, Track and Treat' with aggressive testing which may lead to higher number of daily positive cases initially but would eventually achieve a decline as has been demonstrated after the central government's targeted efforts in the National Capital Territory of Delhi," the ministry said in a statement.
With increased testing of samples for coronavirus, the fatality rate has significantly dropped to 2.35 per cent on Saturday and the recovery rate has surged to 63.54 per cent. "India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world," the health ministry said.
The downward trend in fatality rate indicates the collective efforts of the centre, state and UT governments have helped in checking the mortality rate of coronavirus, it stated.
With 8,49,431 recoveries, the number of recovered cases have outnumbered the active cases by 3,93,360.
However, with 48,916 fresh cases on Saturday, India's COVID-19 tally zoomed past 13 lakh today, just two days after it crossed the 12-lakh mark, while the death count mounted to 31,358, the ministry said.
