India Conducted Highest COVID-19 Tests of 8.97 Lakh in Past 24 Hours, Says Health Ministry

New Delhi, August 18: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday informed that a new record of 8.97 lakh COVID-19 tests were done in the past 24 hours. The Union Ministry even after the high level of testing, the positivity rate remained at 8.81 per cent in comparison to the weekly national average of 8.84 per cent.

Informing about the latest update, the Union Health Ministry took to Twitter and wrote, "A new peak of 8.97 lakh #COVID19 tests were done in the last 24 hours. Even with such a high level of testing, the positivity has remained low i.e. 8.81% compared to the weekly national average i.e. 8.84%." Adding more, the ministry said, "Aggressive TESTING leads to early identification and isolation of #COVID19 positive cases. This coupled with efficient clinical treatment brings the Fatality Rate down." India Has Exceeded 3 Crore COVID-19 Tests So Far, Aggressive Testing Across Country Keeping Fatality Rate Low, Says Health Ministry.

Here are the Union Health Ministry's tweets:

Earlier on Tuesday, the Health Ministry had stated that India has set a new landmark of conducting 3 crore tests. The ministry informed that the cumulative testing rose from 1.2 crores on July 14, 2020, to 3.0 crore on August 16, 2020, with the positivity rate seen a rise from 7.5 per cent to 8.81 per cent in the same period.

The government said that the diagnostic lab network in the country grew from one lab at Pune in early January 2020 to 1470, including 969 labs in the government sector and 501 private labs. Among that Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs grew to 754, TrueNat based testing labs to 599 and CBNAAT based testing labs increased to 117.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2020 08:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).