ICMR & Centre advise states to test upto full capacity; slams low testing by pvt labs

In a stern warning to all states and Union Territories, Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) chief Dr. Balram Bhargava and Health Secretary Preeti Sudan, on Wednesday wrote a letter asking them to ramp up Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing to full capacity. Reiterating the mantra of 'test-track-treat', ICMR and Centre have observed that some states - particularly in the private sectors were testing a 'grossly sub-optimal' level of their capacity. ICMR further recommended private labs to freely test any individual in accordance with ICMR rules.

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ICMR to states: Test upto full capacity

Urging states to use antigen testing kits for early detection of the virus, ICMR said that efforts should be made in 'campaign mode' by setting up camps, mobile vans for testing all symptomatic people. Moreover, ICMR advised that the rate of RT-PCR tests in private labs must be finalised by all states. ICMR has also mandated all labs to upload the testing data on ICMR database as well as on local district level authorities for surveillance and contact tracing.

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India's COVID-19 testing stats

As of data, India has tested 88,26,585 samples - of which 2,17,931 samples were tested on 30 June in the 766 government labs and 288 private labs. According to COVID19India, Tamil Nadu leads the larges states having tested 11,40,441 samples of which 86,224 samples have tested positive. On the other hand, Telangana has tested 88,563 samples of which 16,339 have tested positive. Maharashtra which has the highest number of cases ranks second - testing 9,46,518 samples of which 1,73,227 are positive.

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While India's positivity rate is at 6.66%, which is above the 5% threshold, hinting at a rising trend, the Centre has extended its lockdown of containment zones till July 30. India's recovery rate too has steady increased to 59.43%, while its fatality rate has fallen to 2.97% - which is still one of the lowest in the world. The Prime Minister has reiterated people to follow social distancing as India begins to open up, kickstarting the economy - leading to rise in cases too. India has 5,85,493 cases with 2,20,114 active cases and 3,47,979 recovered while 17,400 have died.

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