Coronavirus update: India conducts over 3 crore COVID19 testing

Coronavirus testing update: India has a rapidly growing national network of COVID19 testing labs. (Reuters image)

Coronavirus testing update: India has conducted over 3 crore Coronavirus COVID19 testing. The central government has said that “timely and aggressive testing” is keeping the Positivity Rate and Fatality Rate low, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) tested 7,31,697 samples on August 16 taking the overall number of testing to 3,00,41,400. In India, there are 6,76,900 active coronavirus cases. So far, 19,19,842 COVID19 patients have been discharged and 50,921 people have died.

India has a rapidly growing national network of COVID19 testing labs. Across the country, a total of 1,469 coronavirus testing labs are there. Out of the total, 969 are government labs and 500 labs run by private entities. The different types of labs include Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs, TrueNat based testing labs, and CBNAAT based testing labs. There are 754 Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs, out of which 450 are government-run. There are 598 TrueNat based testing labs, out of which 485 are government-owned. There are 117 CBNAAT based testing labs, out of which 34 are run by the government.

Through its testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently have led to a steady rise in recoveries. India’s Recovery Rate has reached nearly 72 per cent. This ensures that more patients are recovering and the caseload of the country has been reducing. India has over 26 per cent of active coronavirus cases, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare says.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate is declining. With 1.93 per cent, India has one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. This is a result of coordinated efforts of the Centre and State/UT governments which has led to a continuous decline in the Mortality Rate. Across the world, the US crossed 50,000 deaths in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. India took 156 days to reach the figure.