Covid-19 tests in India cross 9 crore: Health Ministry

The health ministry said higher testing across wide regions leads to early identification of positive cases, prompt tracking through efficient surveillance and tracing, and timely and effective treatment in homes/facilities and in hospitals for the severe cases, adding that these measures in tandem eventually lead to lower mortality rate.

The total number of tests for detection of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has crossed nine crore in India, while the cumulative positivity rate is 8.04% and is on a continuous decline, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.

A total of 74,632 Covid-19 cases have recovered and discharged in a span of 24 hours whereas 63,509 new infections were reported during the same period, according to Union health ministry dashboard(HT Photo)

“Very high countrywide testing on a sustained basis has also resulted in bringing down the national Covid-19 positivity rate. This indicates that the rate of spread of infection is being effectively contained. Twenty states and UTs have a positivity rate less than the national average. The cumulative positivity rate is 8.04 per cent and is on a continuous decline,” the ministry said.

India has been registering more new recoveries than the new cases consistently in the recent days.  As a result, the active cases are steadily declining and stand at 8,26,876 as on date and comprise only 11.42% of the total caseload of the country, the ministry highlighted.

The health ministry said higher testing across wide regions leads to early identification of positive cases, prompt tracking through efficient surveillance and tracing, and timely and effective treatment in homes/facilities and in hospitals for the severe cases, adding that these measures in tandem eventually lead to lower mortality rate.

A total of 74,632 Covid-19 cases have recovered and discharged in a span of 24 hours whereas 63,509 new infections were reported during the same period, according to Union health ministry dashboard.

“Higher number of recoveries has aided the national Recovery Rate to further improve to 87.05%. The total recoveries have surged to 63,01,927 and exceed active cases of Covid-19 by 54,75,051.  Also, 79 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and UTs --- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Delhi,” the ministry said.

Maharashtra continues to contribute the maximum with more than 15,000 single day recoveries.

The ministry said that 77% of the 63,509 new infections registered in a span of 24 hours are from 10 states and UTs --Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnatala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Kerala with 8,764 new cases has outnumbered Maharashtra (8,522) with the highest number of new reported cases.

Top three contributing states, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka, reported more than 8,000 cases followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, both contributing more than 4,000 cases each.

Also, 730 case Covid-19 fatalities have been reported in a span of 24 hours. Of these, nearly 80 per cent are concentrated in ten states and Union Territories.

“More than 25% of new fatalities reported are from Maharashtra (187 deaths).  India has demonstrated an exponential increase in the number of Covid-19 cumulative tests since January 2020.  The country’s testing capacities have multiplied manifold with more than 1900 labs across the country and with collaborative efforts of the Centre and state and UT governments. More than 15 lakh samples can be tested every day,” the ministry said.

Progressive expansion in testing infrastructure has played a crucial role in the steep rise of testing numbers, it added.

(With inputs from PTI)