With 937,625 active cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Sunday, down by 7,371 on the previous day, India has sustained a steady trend of less than one million active cases for the 13th consecutive day, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said.
According to the health ministry, there were 1,017,754 active cases on September 18, and September 22 the count dropped to 968,377 and has since then remained below one million.
India’s Covid-19 tally has surpassed 6.5 million with the toll exceeding 100,000. However, the recovery numbers bring a respite as over 5.5 million people have been discharged from hospitals or have been recovered in home isolation.
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The government also pointed towards an increase in the daily Covid-19 testing across the country with an average of 1.15 million tests conducted daily in the past ten days. “Despite the extended weekend, India has posted high daily testing numbers over Thursday-Friday-Saturday with 10,97,947, 11,32,675 and 11,42,131 tests respectively,” the health ministry’s statement said, adding that more than 1.5 million tests can be conducted every day.
“From merely one in January 2020, India’s total tests have crossed 7.89 crore so far. There has been a commensurate dip in the positivity rate. With the progressively falling positivity rate, testing has worked as a highly effective tool to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}“From merely one in January 2020, India’s total tests have crossed 7.89 crore so far. There has been a commensurate dip in the positivity rate. With the progressively falling positivity rate, testing has worked as a highly effective tool to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection,” it said.
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The first Covid-19 swab sample in India was tested on January 23 at ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. India had one NIV laboratory in January and since then, the country has added 1,751 laboratories to its network to conduct Covid-19 tests, including 1,059 and 692 in the government and private sector, respectively.