ICMR Increases RT-PCR Testing Capacity

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Saturday said that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has increased RT-PCR testing capacity from 27,000 tests per day to 37,200 as per the instruction of the Union home minister Amit Shah.

Shah, on November 15, had announced a number of measures to bring Delhi's coronavirus situation under control. The measures announced by Shah include, among others, doubling of RT-PCR tests and deployment of mobile testing vans belonging to the Union health ministry and ICMR, in vulnerable places in the national capital.

MHA in a tweet on Saturday said, "ICMR has increased RT-PCR testing capacity from 27,000 tests/day to 37,200 RT-PCR tests per day on directions of HM @AmitShah. 30,735 RT-PCR samples collected in Delhi on 19 Nov as compared to 12,055 RT-PCR samples on 15 Nov."

Shah had also said doctors and paramedical crew from the Central Armed Police Forces will be flown into Delhi to enhance capacity. In cases of severe Covid-19 infection, protocols are to be prepared to allow plasma donation, he added. The meeting was convened to devise a strategy to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Delhi amid the festive season, reported Hindustan Times.

The government has said that the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the country have crossed the 130 million mark, adding that of these, the last 10 million came in just 10 days. "India has crossed the landmark milestone of 13 crore tests. The last 1 crore tests conducted in just ten days," the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) tweeted on Saturday.