Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Updated : June 18, 2020 8:35 PM IST
Earlier this month, the DCGI had approved remdesivir for “restricted emergency use” on severely ill hospitalised coronavirus patients.
With the COVID-19 pandemic taking a massive toll in India, the government is trying hard to contain the spread of the disease. Following easing of lockdown restrictions, it becomes all the more important to be vigilant and guard against the infectious disease. Till now, India has had the lowest testing rate among the worst-hit nations of the world. Many experts are of the view that this may have contributed to the surge in cases. Many worry that it may also mean that there are many infected people around we do not know about. If testing is ramped up, these cases will be identified and containment measures can be taken. Acknowledging this fact, the government is trying to actively increase testing for the virus in the country.
As COVID-19 recovery rate improves to 52.96 per cent across India with 1.94 lakh people cured so far, the Centre on Thursday introduced the country's first mobile I-Lab to conduct testing of the infectious disease in remote, interior and inaccessible areas. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched India's first mobile I-Lab to diagnose novel coronaviurs or COVID-19 disease.
The Infectious Disease Diagnostic Lab (I-LAB) has the capability to perform 25 COVID-19 RT-PCR tests in a day. It can also test 300 ELISA tests per day and also additional tests for TB and HIV as per CGHS rates. The I-LAB is supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, under the COVID Command strategy.
The Lab is launched at a time when the number of COVID-19 infected persons across the country has gone up to 3,66,946, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) data. But the good news is that 7,390 COVID-19 patients were cured in the last 24 hours and a total of 1,94,324 patients have so far recovered from the pandemic caused by the deadly virus. The recovery rate has risen to 52.96 per cent, according to health ministry reports. Currently, 1,60,384 active cases are under medical supervision.
The number of COVID-19 testing labs have also been increased to 953. This includes 699 government and 254 private labs.
Of these labs, Real-Time RT-PCR based testing is conducted in 540 labs that include 349 run by the government and 191 by private sectors. TrueNat based testing is being done in 325 government and 15 private labs. However, CBNAAT tests are being done at 25 government and 48 private labs.
(With inputs from IANS)
