Coronavirus tests per million reach 26,685 in India; positivity rate down to 8.60%

With India having tested nearly 3.7 crore cumulative COVID-19 samples so far, the tests per million have further risen to 26,685 while the positivity rate has come down to 8.60 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. India is focusing on the "test, track and treat" strategy to contain the spread of the infection.

As the first step towards timely identification, prompt isolation and effective treatment, higher testing also results in limiting the spread of infection, it emphasised. The total recoveries have surged to 24.04 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 75.92 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate has declined to 1.84 per cent as on date.

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With India's resolve to rapidly increase the number of daily tests, the cumulative testing as on date has reached 3,68,27,520. "With 9,25,383 tests conducted on Monday, the tests per million have seen a sharp rise to 26,685," the ministry said. Starting from a single lab at Pune, India's testing lab network has seen a substantial widening with a total of 1524 labs. While there are 986 labs in the government sector, there are 538 private labs, it said.

There are 7,04,348 active cases of coronavirus infection, the "actual caseload" of the country, comprising only 22.24 pc of the total cases. With 60,975 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,67,323, while the death toll climbed to 58,390 with 848 fatalities being reported in a span of 24-hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

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