No. of COVID-19 tests conducted goes past 4.14 Cr in India

With a record over 10.5 lakh tests conducted for detection of COVID-19 in a single day, the number of such tests performed in the country has crossed 4.14 crore, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.

The exponential jump in the testing capacity and the number of tests has resulted in an upsurge in the Tests Per Million to 30,044 as on date, it highlighted.

With a record 10,55,027 tests conducted on Saturday, the country has further strengthened the national diagnostic capacity of testing more than 10 lakh samples for COVID-19 on a daily basis.

The total number of COVID-19 tests conducted in the country currently stands at 4,14,61,636.

The Centre, keeping in view the evolving global context of COVID-19, conceptualised and implemented the continuum of care strategy of "test, track and treat" in close coordination with the states and Union territories.

Pivoted on the strong pillar of aggressive testing, the positive cases are identified early, which enables and ensures that their contacts are efficiently tracked in a timely manner, the ministry underlined.

This is followed up with prompt isolation at home or a facility setting for the mild and moderate cases, and hospitalisation for the severe and critical patients, it said.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in its guidance note on "Public Health Criteria to Adjust Public Health and Social Measures in the Context of COVID-19", has advised a comprehensive surveillance for suspected coronavirus cases.

It has advised that a country needs 140 tests per 10 lakh people every day.

All the states and Union territories have crossed the advised number of tests. Several states have demonstrated a better performance by registering a positivity rate that is lower than the national average, the ministry said.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 35,42,733 with a record single-day spike of 78,761 cases, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 63,498 with 948 people succumbing to it in a span of 24 hours, the ministry's data, updated at 8 am, showed.

The testing strategy also ensured a steady expansion of the laboratory network across the country. As many as 1,583 laboratories -- 1,003 in the government sector and 580 private ones -- are providing comprehensive COVID-19 testing facilities to people.