India Has Ordered 5 Lakh More Coronavirus Testing Kits, 2.5 Lakh To Arrive by 9 April: ICMR

Amid the growing numbers of coronavirus cases in the country, India has placed an order for 5 lakh testing kits for COVID-19, said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) deputy director R Gangakhedkar on Monday (6 April).

He further added, of those 5 lakh kits, 2.5 lakh are to be delivered by 8-9 April, ANI tweeted.

Gangakhedkar was addressing the media at a press briefing hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), where joint-secretary of Health Ministry Lav Aggarwal was also present.

While answering a question on the current testing capacity of the country, he said India’s current capacity is at 13,000 tests (in a day), which can be further improved to 25,000 if done in double shifts.

However, he said testing the right people would be a better strategy than testing in high numbers.