Covid-19 testing capacity to reach 10 lakh tests per day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that efforts are underway to increase covid-19 testing capacity to 10 lakh per day in the coming weeks.

Modi was speaking at the launch of three 'high throughput' covid-19 testing facilities via video conferencing. These facilities are located at the national institutes of Indian Council of Medical Research, at Kolkata, Mumbai and Noida.

While the country had only one COVID testing centre in January, Modi said, there are almost 1300 such labs now. He said that at present, more than 5 lakh tests are being conducted in the country daily.

Prime Minister said that these hi-tech state-of-the-art testing facilities will boost the testing capacity by almost 10,000 daily tests. More number of tests will assist early detection and treatment, thereby helping fight the spread of the virus.

He said that these labs will not be limited to testing for covid, but in future, will also be able to test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Dengue and several other diseases.

“India is better placed vis-a-vis other countries in terms of deaths due to covid-19. The recovery rate is also higher than other countries and is improving on a daily basis," said Prime Minister adding that the number of people recovered from the highly infectious disease is about to reach 10 lakh.

PM Modi also said that it was imperative for the country to develop corona specific health infrastructure at a fast pace. “Centre had announced a package of ₹15,000 crore at the beginning of this battle. The country now has more than 11,000 covid facilities and more than 11 lakh isolation beds," he said

Modi also said that India has become the second largest PPE kit manufacturer.

“The country has progressed from not having even a single PPE kit manufacturer as recently as six months ago, to having more than 1200 manufacturers now, who are producing more than 5 lakh such kits daily," Modi said.

He also highlighted that from being dependent on imports, now more than 3 lakh N-95 masks are being produced in the country daily, annual production capacity of ventilators has become 3 lakh and there has also been a significant increase in the production of medical oxygen cylinders. This has not only helped save lives but has also converted India from an importer to an exporter.

Talking about efforts to contain the spread in rural areas, Modi mentioned the need to develop new health infrastructure as well as boost the already existing health infrastructure facilities in the villages.

he said that apart from developing the physical infrastructure, the country has also managed to swiftly ramp up human resources including paramedics, ASHA workers, Anganwadis etc, who have played a significant part in controlling the spread of the pandemic.

“There is a need to work on continuously attaching new and retired health professionals with the health system in order to prevent fatigue from setting in our corona warriors," Modi said.

Modi also cautioned people to keep the coronavirus contained during celebrations of the upcoming festivals such as Eid ul-Adha and Rakhshabandhan.

“Many festivals are lined up in the near future. Let these celebrations bring happiness and joy but we have to take every precaution to avoid spreading infection among the people," said Modi adding that the poor families do not have problems during the time of festivities.