(file photo)
Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : India has scaled a historic peak in the fight against COVID-19. In a landmark achievement, for the first time, a record of very high number of nearly 15 lakh COVID tests was conducted in a single day on September 24,2020. With 14,92,409 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests have touched nearly 7 crore (6,89,28,440).
This exponential surge in the daily testing capacities strongly demonstrates the determined escalation of the testing infrastructure in the country. Evidence has revealed that higher numbers of testing subsequently leads to lowered positivity rate. States that are testing the highest numbers are also reporting a gradual decline in the positivity rate. The national cumulative positivity rate was 8.44% on September 25, 2020.
With the expansion of testing infrastructure, the daily testing by States/UTs has also increased and 23 States/UTs have better tests per million than the national average (49,948).
As reiterated by the Prime Minister, as he reviewed the status and preparedness of 7 States/UTs with high burden of caseload recently, testing forms an integral pillar of COVID response and management. The Centre’s three-pronged strategy of ‘TEST TRACK TREAT’ begins with testing. CHASE THE VIRUS approach of the Union Government aims to catch every missing person through testing to curb spread of the infection.
Several measures have been taken by the Union Government through calibrated steps to widen the testing net and ensure easier and more accessible testing by all across the country. States/UTs have been empowered with flexibility to ensure higher testing. They have been advised that all symptomatic negatives of Rapid Antigen Tests are mandatorily subjected to RT-PCR, according to a PIB release.