COVID-19 testing capacity reaches 3 lakhs samples a day: Health Ministry

New Delhi [India], June 16 (ANI): India has tested 59,21,069 COVID-19 samples and the country now has the capacity to test 3 lakh samples per day, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Tuesday.
In a release, the Health Ministry said, "The testing capacity for detecting the coronavirus in infected persons in the country is continuously being ramped up. The country now has the capacity to test 3 lakh samples per day. The total number of samples tested thus far is 59,21,069 with 1,54,935 samples tested in the last 24 hours."
"A network of 907 labs has been created in the country as on date. This includes 659 labs in the government sector and 248 in the private sector," it added.
According to Ministry, there are 534 Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs in the country (Government: 347 + Private: 187), 302 TrueNat based testing labs (Government: 287 + Private: 15) and 71 CBNAAT based testing labs (Government: 25 + Private: 46).
In order to enhance the testing capacity in Delhi, each of the 11 districts shall now have assigned labs for exclusively testing the samples from the respective districts and currently, there are 42 labs in Delhi with approximately 17,000 testing capacity per day, Ministry said.
The Ministry said that the Rapid Antigen test may be used in containment zones and hospital settings under strict medical supervision.
"The Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection kit takes 15 minutes to show results and therefore will help in early detection of the disease. The antigen test can be conducted at the site of sample collection in the healthcare setting within one hour of sample collection. Domestic manufacturing capacity of antigen test kits in the country currently is around 10 million in a month. In order to facilitate states to easily procure the Rapid Antigen test kits, the Centre is ensuring that the domestic manufactures are onboarded to the Government E-Marketplace (GEM) portal," it said.
"ELISA AND CLIA antibody tests can be used for asymptomatic frontline workers, doctors, paramedics etc., and for those working in COVID-19 care to boost their confidence. These are also being made available on the GEM portal," it added.
Ministry has asked States/UTs to proactively engage with the private healthcare providers to facilitate enhanced bed availability and critical care health facilities and to ensure fair and transparent charges for services provided.
In this regard, some states like Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have already taken the initiative, Ministry said.
The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,178 active cases, while 1,80,013 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far and the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,900. (ANI)