With Rising Covid-19 Testing Capacity, Govt Likely To Revisit Strategy To Allow On-Demand Tests: Report

With the increase in the Covid-19 testing capacity in the country, the government is considering to revisit its testing strategy to advise the states to make it available on demand, reports Times of India.

India has at present 1,486 laboratories conducting tests for Covid-19 across the country. Out of the total laboratories, 975 are government while 511 are private labs. More labs are being added to ramp up the Covid-19 testing infrastructure in the country.

Besides, the testing kits and reagent for Covid-19 diagnosis, which had to be imported earlier, are now being manufactured locally in India.

“We will review the strategy looking at the capacity and access to people. It is practically on demand anyway," NITI Aayog member V K Paul was quoted as saying.

"The broader purpose is to ensure that resources are used for the best purpose to avoid frivolous testing. But, we will review the testing strategy after looking at the capacity we currently have,” Paul added.

Meanwhile, India has so far conducted over 3.09 crore Covid-19 tests, with nearly 9 lakh samples tested on a single day on Monday (17 August).