Published 17:23 IST, April 17th 2020
COVID-19: Cong raises 'low-testing' allegation once again, asks PM Modi why he is 'silent'
Once again the Congress party has hit out at the centre for not conducting enough tests for early detection of COVID-19 cases asking PM Modi why he is 'silent'
Once again the Congress party has hit out at the Centre for not conducting enough tests for early detection of COVID-19 cases asking PM Modi why he is 'silent' on India's testing rate. This comes shortly after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the scale of testing in India has been low so far at 199 per 10 lakh people. Shutting down this rumour the chief of Epidemiology and Communicable diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar had previously revealed that for each positive case the country tests 24 people.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex medical body monitoring the spread of COVID-19 in India, on Friday in a statement said that a total of 3,02,956 samples from 2,86,714 individuals have been tested till 9 pm on April 15.
India's COVID-19 testing ratio not low
Refuting allegations that India is not conducting enough COVID-19 tests, the Health Ministry said on Thursday the testing ratio is not low and in a country with such a huge population "not all people belong to vulnerable groups". While India has been criticized by the opposition for its 'limited testing range', the testing data released by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MOHFW), on Thursday, shows India following global standards corresponding to the number of cases.
\The data released by MOHFW shows that India has tested 2,17,554 samples currently as its case tally crosses 10,000-mark. In comparison US, UK had tested just above 1,00,000 samples, while Canada had tested close to 3,00,000 samples. All the above-mentioned countries are currently in the 'Community transmission' phase, while India has been put under 'Cluster of cases' with 12,380 cases and 414 deaths.
Updated 17:23 IST, April 17th 2020