NEW DELHI: Not a single case of COVID-19 was reported from 325 districts in the country, the Centre said on Thursday, while declaring that fatality rate is 3.3% as of now while recovery rate is about 12%.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 12,759 across India while 420 people have died so far. On Wednesday, India conducted 30,043 coronavirus tests in a single day, making it the highest so far. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said 2,90,401 tests had been carried out so far.At present, the testing is being conducted in 176 government and 78 private laboratories in India. The private laboratories have nearly 16,000 sample collection centres across states.
The country on Thursday received a total of five lakh rapid testing kits from two different Chinese companies.According to sources in the MEA, the ministry is providing all necessary assistance for supplies of testing kits from South Korea. “Firm quotations were obtained from companies in the UK, Malaysia, France, Canada and the US. We have also obtained leads from companies in Germany and Japan,” a source said.
The kits from China, however, will not be used for diagnostic testing but will be used for surveillance of the outbreak at first in hotspot areas. Dr R R Gangakhedkar, head of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at ICMR, said the serological kits are meant to be used to map the trend of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, amid shortage of crucial ventilators, the government also lifted import ban on used ventilators — considered a major medical hazard — from other countries till September. As per the estimates, India has less than 40,000 ventilators available which could be a major detriment in the country’s fight against the outbreak.
The move, however, has raised some concerns. “I am not sure which countries would be in position to give away functional ventilators during this pandemic. These used machines will require much more maintenance and might not be cost effective,” said Pavan Choudary, chairman of Medical Technology Association of India. “What is required at present is an urgent impetus to indigenous manufacturers.”
Public health expert Dr Anant Bhan said used ventilators, even if available, should be subjected to much more rigorous quality checks before being used for very sick patients.
India’s COVID-19 testing ratio not low: ICMR
Responding to a question about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that the scale of testing in India has been low, IMCR’s Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said for each positive case the country tests 24 people. “In countries like Japan, one out of 11.7 tests turns out to be positive, which is among the highest in the world. Italy tests 6.7 persons for one positive test while the USA tests 5.3 persons and the United Kingdom 3.4,” he asserted.