New Delhi, August 17: The Ministry of Health on Monday said that India had exceeded three crore COVID-19 tests across the country so far. The Ministry shared a graph of the aggressive coronavirus testing done across the country and said it has helped in early identification and isolation of COVID-19 positive cases. "Aggressive testing 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", the Ministry tweeted. Check Coronavirus in India: Live Map.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday said that it had so far tested 3,00,41,400 COVID-19 samples across India up to August 16. Of the total samples tested, 7,31,697 coronavirus tests were conducted on Sunday alone. The COVID-19 tally in India inched closer to 26 lakh mark with a single-day spike of 63,489 coronavirus cases on August 16. The total coronavirus cases in India reached 25,89,682 while the death toll climbed up to 49,980. The total number of recoveries in the country rose to 18,62,258, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data said on Sunday. Asymptomatic COVID-19 Patients Less Likely to Infect Close Contacts: Study.
Here's the tweet by the Health Ministry:
Focussing on timely and aggressive TESTING, India has exceeded 3 crore tests. pic.twitter.com/1ayhEzmPF8
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) August 17, 2020
The fatality rate, which is the proportion of people who die of the disease among individuals diagnosed, dropped to 1.93 percent, the Ministry said. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 recovery rate in India improved and had gone up to 71.91 percent. The Health Ministry said that implementation of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently through a several measures have contributed to the existing high level of recoveries as well.
The Health Ministry said that this is a result of coordinated efforts of the Centre and state and UT governments. "The USA crossed 50,000 deaths in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. India took 156 days to reach this national figure," the ministry added.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2020 08:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).