PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry government is planning to enhance the testing for coronavirus to 3,000 samples per lakh population amid rising cases, Minister of Health Malladi Krishna Rao said.
At present, 2,149 samples per lakh population is being tested in Puducherry, 1,828 in Karaikal, 2,354 in Yanam, 2,560 in Mahe as compared to national average of 1505/lakh population, he said.
As many as 63 fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported in Puducherry on Tuesday taking the total number of cases to 1,531.
Among the 63 new cases, 51 are in Puducherry region, two in Karaikal region and 10 cases in Yanam region, Malladi Krishna Rao said.
Presently 684 persons are undergoing treatment, of which 604 are in Puducherry region, 55 in Karaikal GH, 24 in Yanam GH, and one in Mahe GH.
The death toll is 18.
In all, 829 patients have been discharged after recovery including 44 patients on Tuesday.
Till now 26,592 samples have been tested, of which 24,863 have returned negative and the test results of 134 people is awaited.