New Delhi, April 16: India is set to receive over 6.5 lakh kits from China which will ramp up the COVID-19 testing process in the country. According to Vikram Misri, Ambassador of India to China, a total of 650,000 kits, including Rapid Antibody Tests and RNA Extraction Kits have been dispatched from the Guangzhou Airport in China to India on Thursday. The COVID-19 tally in India now stands at 12, 380 with 10,477 active cases and 414 deaths, according to the data released by the Health Ministry.

India has ordered 15 million PPE gears besides a few million testing kits from China, Misri had said. Earlier this week, he had stated that the smooth procurement of the kits at stable prices will send the "best signal possible" for Sino-Indian ties. Over the next couple of weeks, India is expected to receive about 2-3 million kits from China. ICMR to Get 7 Lakh Rapid Antibody Testing Kits For Conducting COVID-19 Tests.

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Factories in China resumed operations after over two-month battle against coronavirus. China, the country where the pandemic originated in December 2019,  is exploring business opportunities of export of key medical goods, specially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India.

Misri added saying that the requirement in India at this time is medical equipment such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and kits, masks, gloves, ventilators, etc, and China is a very large and significant producer of these products. He said orders are being placed to procure 15 million medical kits from China.

On Wednesday, the Assam government imported 50,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits from China for the frontline healthcare workers combating the Covid-19 pandemic in the state.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2020 09:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).