NEW DELHI: A record number of over 7,19, 364 tests to detect COVID-19 were carried out on Saturday as the country registered yet another steepest overnight hike of 64, 399 cases.
This was the first time the number of tests in a day crossed the 7 lakh mark. The Centre has set a target of carrying out 10 lakh tests per day over the next few weeks.
There is no break up of the tests shared by the government everyday but in a press conference last week, Indian Council of Medical Research director-general Dr Balram Bhargava had said that of the total tests, nearly 25-30 per cent are rapid antigen tests, that is quick and cheaper but misses about 50 per cent true positives, and its share is growing.
The cumulative testing figure in the country stood at 2, 41, 06, 535 on Sunday morning as the official tally of coronavirus cases reached 2, 15, 30, 10. The country also recorded 861 deaths in 24 hours of which 275 were from Maharashtra while 118 were from Tamil Nadu.
High numbers of infection mortalities were also reported from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with 97 and 93 deaths respectively.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, meanwhile, said that such high levels of testing would also lead to a high number of daily positive cases but the states have been advised to firmly focus on comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation and effective treatment.
“Several meetings have been taken in the past week to engage with states that are showing higher fatality rates,” it said.
The ministry also added that such an approach has started showing results and recoveries are also increasing exponentially. The recovery rate of COVID-19 has improved to 68.3 per cent from 48.2 per cent a month earlier, the government underlined adding that between June 6 and August 8, the recovery rate increased by 20 per cent.
The number of active cases stood at 6,28,747 and recoveries surged to 14,80,884. The death toll has increased to 43,379, as per the official figures shared by the health ministry.