ICMR increases RT-PCR testing capacity on Amit Shah’s directions

New Delhi: The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) said on Saturday the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has increased RT-PCR testing capacity from 27,000 tests per day to 37,200 on the directions of Union home minister Amit Shah. Shah, on November 15, had announced a number of measures to bring Delhi’s coronavirus situation under control. The measures announced by Shah include, among others, doubling of RT-PCR tests and deployment of mobile testing vans belonging to the Union health ministry and ICMR, in vulnerable places in the national capital.

“ICMR has increased RT-PCR testing capacity from 27,000 tests/day to 37,200 RT-PCR tests per day on directions of HM @AmitShah. 30,735 RT-PCR samples collected in Delhi on 19 Nov as compared to 12,055 RT-PCR samples on 15 Nov,” MHA tweeted on Saturday. Shah had also said doctors and paramedical crew from the Central Armed Police Forces will be flown into Delhi to enhance capacity. In cases of severe Covid-19 infection, protocols are to be prepared to allow plasma donation, he added. The meeting was convened to devise a strategy to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Delhi amid the festive season.

The government has said that the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the country have crossed the 130 million mark, adding that of these, the last 10 million came in just 10 days. “India has crossed the landmark milestone of 13 crore tests. The last 1 crore tests conducted in just ten days,” the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) tweeted on Saturday. India’s total Covid-19 cases on Saturday stood at 9,050,598 after 46,232 infections were recorded in the last 24 hours, health ministry’s data showed. This includes 8,478,124 recovered cases, 439,747 active cases and 132,726 deaths.