More than 11 lakh samples were tested for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking total number of tests conducted so far in the country to over 16 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry, in a statement, said comprehensive and widespread testing on a sustained basis has resulted in bringing down the positivity rate.
According to the health ministry, 11,71,868 samples were tested in the last 24 hours which has increased India's total cumulative tests to 16,00,90,514.
The cumulative positivity rate stands at 6.25 per cent as of now and India's daily testing capacity has been boosted to 15 lakh, it said.
India's Covid-19 caseload surpassed the somber one crore-mark on Saturday, adding 10 lakh cases in nearly a month, while the total number of recoveries surged to 95.50 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry's data.
The ministry further said India has reported more daily recoveries than the daily new cases during the past 24 hours.
"The trend of more daily recoveries than the daily cases has led to a continuous contraction of India's active caseload which presently stands at 3,08,751 today," it said.
The health ministry's data updated at 8 am on Saturday showed that the total number of cases mounted to 1,00,04,599, and the death toll reached 1,45,136 with the virus claiming 347 more lives in a span of 24 hours.
(Published 19 December 2020, 09:23 IST)
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