600k tests on Sunday, lowest in 2 weeks

NEW DELHI: India’s daily testing for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) dropped sharply on Sunday, as 609,917 tests were conducted, the lowest in two weeks, according to data from the Union ministry of health and family welfare. The daily testing count was around 200,000 fewer than that of the previous day.

Sunday’s was the lowest test count since August 10, when 477,027 tests were conducted.

Sunday’s numbers are what India was testing around first week of August, when about 550,00-600,000 tests were performed in a day. On Saturday, 801,147 tests were conducted across 1,515 Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr)-approved laboratories in the country. Last Friday, India had achieved a milestone, when it had conducted a million tests. On average, the country has been conducting 850,000 tests per day over the past week.

ICMR officials said that during weekends the number of swab samples that arrive for testing is usually lower, but the rising average daily tests in the past three weeks are a pointer towards progress being made in the aggressive testing mechanism put in place across the country.

“On weekends and public holidays, the number of samples getting tested usually goes down a bit. There could be several reasons, including fewer swab samples being collected and reduced work shifts of laboratory technicians. It doesn’t mean that the country’s testing capacity has reduced. The daily testing count is only going to increase from here on,” said an ICMR official, requesting anonymity.

India, which had conducted its first Covid-19 test on January 23 at ICMR’S National Institute of Virology in Pune, has conducted 3,590,213 tests till date.