Record 6.4 lakh tests conducted in a day

NEW DELHI: India conducted a record 6,42,588 tests in a single day to detect Covid-19, taking the total tests to 1.88 crore while the country is also reporting less severe cases as compared to a fortnight ago, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan informed the Group of Ministers (GoM) which met on Friday to review the pandemic situation.


According to the health ministry data, only 0.28% of active cases are on ventilators, 1.61% patients needed ICU support and 2.32% are on oxygen assistance. This shows a slight improvement over the data on July 17 when 0.35% Covid-19 patients were on ventilators, around 1.94% cases in ICUs and 2.81% cases on oxygen beds. The active case load of Covid-19 patients in the country then was 3.42 lakh and the number has gone up by over 2 lakh now.

The GoM also discussed the distribution of confirmed cases along with locality and active cases in containment zones across rural and urban India. The maximum caseload - about 80% of the cases - is limited to 50 out of around 740 districts across the country, according to a senior official.

There remains a continuous rise in daily fresh cases, the active case load has increased substantially with health ministry recording over 5.45 lakh active cases on Friday. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) highlighted that cities like Pune, Thane, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are showing a recent upsurge in cases and efforts are being made to reduce mortality in high case load districts and cities.