At 20.66 lakh, India sets record of highest Covid-19 testing in 24 hours

A health worker takes a nasal swab sample during random COVID-19 testing in Gurugram on Saturday. Pic/PTI

With more than 20.66 lakh tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has set a new record of highest tests conducted in a day. Cumulatively, 20,66,285 tests were conducted in the country in the past one day, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. This is also the fourth successive day of more than 20 lakh tests in India. India on May 19 crossed the 20-lakh mark for the first time with 20,08,296 tests.

Daily cases drop to 2.57L

With 2,57,299 fresh cases of Covid-19, India on Saturday witnessed the lowest rise in infection since April 21, even as 4,194 people died due to the pandemic in the last 24 hours. India's overall tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,62,89,290 with 29,23,400 active cases. India registered record deaths (4,529) due to Covid on Wednesday - the highest number of fatalities from the infection in any country since the outbreak was reported in China's Wuhan in December 2019. It surpassed 4,468 deaths in the US on January 12, and earlier 4,211 in Brazil on April 6. After battling a brutal second wave for weeks, fresh cases dropped below the 3 lakh-mark for the first time on May 17 after touching a record high of 4,14,188 on May 7.

Slight relief for NCR

Delhi reported around 2,200 fresh Covid-19 cases and a daily positivity rate of 3.5 per cent in the last 24 hours, giving relief to the people in the National Capital. The daily positivity rate, crucial to assess the spread of Coronavirus in the area, was on Friday reported below the 5 per cent mark (4.74 per cent) and continued to slow down to 3.5 per cent, the lowest since March 31 when it was 2.71 per cent.

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Lockdown pays off in Bengal

The Mamata Banerjee government imposed a ‘nearly lockdown condition' in the state on May 16 for 15 days and after seven days of restrictions, the state has started showing signs of improvement, with the infection rate coming down from beyond 30 to 25 per cent.

Remove ‘Indian Covid variant' content: Centre

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked all social media platforms to immediately remove content that refers to the "Indian variant" of Covid-19. The MEIT said this is in line with earlier advisories to curb fake news and misinformation. " WHO has not associated the term ‘Indian variant' with the B1617 variant of the Coronavirus in any of its reports," it said.

Will have to shut vax centres for 18-44: Delhi CM

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said vaccination centres for the 18-44 age group are being closed in Delhi due to lack of doses and appealed to the Centre to provide more vaccines. He said that Delhi requires 80 lakh doses a month to vaccinate its youth, but has received only 16 lakh doses in May.

2,62,89,290
Total number of cases in the country as of Saturday

2,95,525
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India

2,30,70,365
Patients recovered and discharged in India by Saturday

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