Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday launch the 'high-throughput' COVID-19 testing facilities in three cities -- Noida, Mumbai, and Kolkata -- via video conferencing.

According to the Prime Minister`s Office (PMO), these facilities will ramp up testing capacity in the country and help in strengthening early detection and treatment, thus assisting in controlling the spread of the pandemic.

"These three high-throughput testing facilities have been set up strategically at ICMR-National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research, Noida; ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai; and ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, and will be able to test over 10,000 samples in a day," PMO said in a release.

These labs will also reduce turn-around-time and exposure of lab personnel to infectious clinical materials, it stated while adding that the labs are enabled to test diseases other than COVID as well and post the pandemic, will be able to test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, Neisseria, Dengue, etc.

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, along with Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh are expected to participate in the event.

Meanwhile, India witnessed the highest ever recoveries of 36,145 COVID-19 patients in a single day in the last 24 hours. This has taken the total number of recovered cases to 8,85,576. The recovery rate has achieved another high of fast approaching 64%.

More patients are recovering quickly thus closing down the widening difference between recovered and active COVID-19 patients steadily. Recovered cases are 1.89 times the active cases (4,67,882).

The Union government has advised all State/UT governments to keep up with and effectively implement the strategy of “Test, Track and Treat”.

(With agency inputs)