AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday stressed on the need to increase coronavirus testing in Gujarat in view of the "high positivity rate" prevailing in the state.
The PM made the suggestion during his virtual interaction with chief ministers of 10 states, including Gujarat's Vijay Rupani, on the latest COVID-19 situation.
"Testing needs to be ramped up especially in those states where testing rate is low and positivity rate is high.
These states are Bihar, Gujarat, UP, West Bengal and Telangana.
"This suggestion to increase testing in these states emerged during this review meeting," said Modi in his address.
After taking part in the virtual meet from Gandhinagar, chief minister Rupani, in a statement, said he had informed the PM that Gujarat's daily testing average is 456 tests per million.
"Gujarat has 34 government-run and 59 private laboratories to conduct such a high number of tests.
In addition, rapid antigen tests are being conducted in each district and in major cities," said the statement.
Rupani added that around 47,000 COVID-19 beds and 2,300 ventilators are currently available in the state.
Maintaining that Gujarat's patient recovery rate is more than 76 per cent, Rupani informed the PM that there are about 14,000 active cases in the state at present, while around 55,000 patients have been discharged till now.
Rupani also said Gujarat's mortality rate due to coronavirus has gone down from 7.8 per cent to 2.1 per cent.
The chief minister expressed confidence that the country will defeat the pandemic with Modi's continuous guidance, the release said.
Till August 11, Gujarat has recorded 73,238 COVID-19 cases.