Over 32,000 cases recorded in 24 hours 10 lakh tests per day soon

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, here on Thursday, the Covid-19 testing capacity would be enhanced to 10 lakh a day in 12 weeks. He said this while inaugurating the new Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (RAK) OPD block of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), here.

"The capacity will be enhanced to 10 lakh tests a day in the coming 12 weeks," the Minister said.

"Gradually, we are moving in the direction to win the battle against the pandemic" which had infected 9,68,876 people across the country, he said.

He said less than 2 per cent of the Covid-19 patients were admitted in intensive care units (ICUs) and the lab network had been strengthened from 1 in January to 1,234 now. As on date, more than 3.26 samples were being tested per day, he added.

India recorded the highest single-day spike of 32,695 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and 606 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 9,68,876 cases with a death total of 24,915 the Health Ministry's data stated on Thursday.

According to Health Ministry data, as many as 6,12,814 patients have recovered, almost twice the number of active patients at 3,31,146. The rate of recovery has touched 63.24 per cent. India, however, remains the third worst-affected country after the US and Brazil.

During the last 24 hours, 3,26,826 samples were tested, as the testing lab network continues to expand. As on date, more than 1,206 labs have enabled people to undergo coronavirus tests.

Maharashtra remained the worst-hit state, with 2,75,640 cases and 10,928 casualties followed by Tamil Nadu with total 1,51,820 cases, including 2,167 deaths.

India has 3,31,146 active Covid-19 cases, which is around a third of the country's total tally that rose to 9.68 lakh on Thursday, the Union Health ministry said and credited targeted measures for the steady decline in active caseload.

As the country witnessed a record single-day increase of 32,695 cases on Thursday, the ministry said the recovery rate rose to 50 per cent mid-June and thereafter there has been a steady rise in recoveries and a decline in the number of active cases.

"Of the total Covid-19 cases, 63.25 per cent have recovered so far. Simultaneously, there has been a steady dip in the number of active cases, from around 45 per cent in mid-June to around 34.18 per cent as of now," the ministry.

A total of 20,783 people have recuperated in the past 24 hours, the highest number of recoveries in a day, taking the total number of recovered cases to 6,12,814.