COVID-19: India conducted more than 1.22 cr tests in last 2 weeks; actual caseload dips

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry said that the COVID-19 recovery rate reached 76.94 percent as 65, 081 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours. Additionally, India’s per day testing capacity has crossed 10 lakhs tests. 10,16,920 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, while the weekly average tests have multiplied by more than 4 times since the first week of January 2020. Following this tenet, India's cumulative tests have crossed 4.3 crores. 1,22,66,514 tests were done in the last two weeks alone.

"The total number of recoveries has reached over 28,39,882. The constantly increasing recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country has reduced and currently comprises only 21.29 per cent of the total positive cases. Effective implementation of Centre's strategic and graded 'Test,Track and Treat' approach has led to higher recoveries and lower fatality," the health ministry said.
 

Meanwhile, the states contributing maximum to the overall number of tests include Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra among others. These three states account for nearly 34% of the total testing.

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'Very Significant control' over COVID-19 by Diwali

Dr Harsh Vardhan during his address also added that experts like Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty and Dr. C N Manjnath would probably agree that the situation may also turn into an endemic like other viruses in the past. However, he stated that India may have a chance to bring it under control in the coming months ahead of Diwali.

"Hopefully that in the next couple of months, maybe by Diwali time, we should have a very significant control over the coronavirus," Vardhan said. "But, the virus has taught us a certain lesson, it has taught us there has to be a new normal and we need to be more diligent about, more cautious about our lifestyle," he added.

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Coronavirus in India

With 69,921 people testing positive for coronavirus infection, India''s COVID-19 tally mounted to 36,91,166, while recoveries surged to 28,39,882 on Tuesday pushing the recovery rate to 76.94 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The death toll climbed to 65,288 with 819 new fatalities being reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.77 per cent. There are 7,85,996 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 21.29 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

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