The number of COVID-19 tests in India crossed four-crore mark with more than nine lakh samples tested for the third consecutive day while the number of such tests per 10lakh people has also increased to 29,280, the data of Union Health Ministry revealed.
The COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 34,63,972 as on Saturday.
With the focussed, consistent and coordinated efforts led by the Centre and implemented by the states and Union territories, the country has set a new landmark of testing 4,04,06,609 people for COVID-19 so far, the ministry said.
The number of daily tests has also seen an upsurge. Already having achieved the testing capacity of 10 lakh per day, 9,28,761 COVID-19 tests were conducted on Friday, reported news agency PTI.
"This has boosted the Tests Per Million (TPM) with a sharp increase to 29,280. As is seen in many states and Union territories that have increased the testing, the positivity rate will eventually fall with higher levels of testing. The national positivity rate has remained low at 8.57 percent and is constantly falling," the ministry highlighted.
The number of tests for detection of COVID-19 had crossed the three-crore mark in the country on August 17.
Currently, there are 1,576 laboratories in the country — 1,002 in the government sector and 574 private ones — where COVID-19 tests can be performed, the ministry said.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 34,63,972 with a single-day spike of 76,472 cases, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 62,550 with 1,021 people succumbing to it in a span of 24 hours, the health ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
At the same time, the number of recoveries surged to 26,48,998, pushing the recovery rate to 76.47 percent, according to the data.
