COVID-19 tests in India cross 30 million-mark: Health ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Monday said that a "new landmark"  has been reached with the total number of tests for detection of COVID-19 crossing 30 million-mark in India.

This has been achieved due to expanded diagnostic lab network and facilitation for easy testing across the country, the ministry said.

A total of 30,041,400 samples have been tested until August 16 with 731,697 samples being tested on Sunday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

In a testament to the focussed, consistent and coordinated efforts of the Centre, and the State and UT governments, India has set a new landmark of conducting three crore tests, the Union Health ministry said in a statement.

Expanded diagnostic lab network and facilitation for easy testing across the country have given a substantial boost to the testing capacity, it said.

"With 731,697 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India is on its resolved drive to increase its testing capacity to 10 lakh tests daily," the ministry said.

Building on this achievement, the Tests Per Million (TPM) have seen a sharp increase to 21,769, it said.

While the cumulative testing rose from 1.2 crore on July 14 to three crore on August 16, the positivity rate has seen a rise from 7.5 per cent to 8.81 per cent in the same period, the statement said.

"Although higher number of tests will push the positivity rate initially, but as the Delhi experience has amply shown, it will eventually lower when combined with other measures such as prompt isolation, tracking and timely clinical management," the ministry said.

Noting that aggressive testing leads to early identification and isolation of COVID-19 positive cases, the ministry said this coupled with efficient clinical treatment brings the fatality rate down.

"Thus, enhanced and timely testing is not only keeping the Positivity Rate low but also the Fatality Rate low," it said.

(With inputs from PTI)