COVID-19: India records all-time High of DAILY TESTING, 15 lakh tests conducted in a single day

India has scaled a historic peak in the fight against COVID-19. In a landmark achievement, for the first time, a record of very high number of nearly 15 lakh COVID tests has been conducted in a single day, according to Union Health Ministry Data.  With 14,92,409 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have touched nearly 7 crore (6,89,28,440). This exponential surge in the daily testing capacities strongly demonstrates the determined escalation of the testing infrastructure in the country. The last one crore tests were conducted in merely 9 days.

Evidence has revealed that higher numbers of testing subsequently leads to lowered positivity rate. States that are testing the highest numbers are also reporting a gradual decline in the positivity rate.

The national cumulative positivity rate stands at 8.44% today. Meanwhile, 85,821 fresh cases were recorded in the country on Thursday, as per data from state governments, taking the cumulative caseload to over 58.1 lakh. Daily cases have remained below the 90,000 mark for five straight days.

The daily death toll was recorded at 1,141, above the 1,100 mark for the second day running. With a little over 80,000 recoveries, active cases rose by more than 4,000 on Thursday. As Thursday’s rise showed, the trend of falling active cases could be tentative and may well give way to further rises, with some experts speaking of a “second wave”. But if the trend consolidates — even with ups and downs — it would spell some relief for health workers and officials battling the disease.

With the expansion of testing infrastructure, the daily testing by States/UTs has also increased. 23 States/UTs have better tests per million than the national average (49,948).

As reiterated by the Prime Minister, as he reviewed the status and preparedness of 7 States/UTs  with high burden of caseload recently, testing forms an integral pillar of COVID response and management. The Centre’s three-pronged strategy of ‘TEST TRACK TREAT’ begins with testing. CHASE THE VIRUS approach of the Union Government aims to catch every missing person through testing to curb spread of the infection.

 Several measures have been taken by the Union Government through calibrated steps to widen the testing net and ensure easier and more accessible testing by all across the country. States/UTs have been empowered with flexibility to ensure higher testing. They have been advised that all symptomatic negatives of Rapid Antigen Tests are mandatorily subjected to RT-PCR. Expanded diagnostic lab network has given a sharp boost to the enhanced testing numbers. The testing network has grown to 1818 labs today, including 1084 labs in the government sector and 734 private labs.