ICMR: 34,931 Covid-19 Tests Performed So Far Through 113 Govt, 9 Private Labs; 47 More Private Labs Approved

With a significant increase number of Covid-19 cases in India, the Union government has allowed 47 private labs across the country to conduct tests.

During a press briefing today , Dr. R. Ganga Ketkar of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, "Till today (Sunday) we have conducted 34,931 tests. The ICMR network's capacity utilisation is around 30 per cent. We have increased the number of labs. 113 have been made functional and 47 more private labs approved."

As of March 27 the number of approved government laboratories stands at 122. Of this, 113 labs are operational and the remaining 9 are in the process.

Dr. Ganga Ketkar added that the capacity utilization in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) network is around 30%.

ICMR has allowed nine private labs in Maharashtra to conduct the test followed by eight in Delhi, seven in Telangana,four each in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat and two each in Kerala and West Bengal.

The Union Health Ministry said on Sunday that 106 new cases of the novel coronavirus pandemic and six deaths were reported from six states in the past 24 hours.

Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said there were 979 confirmed cases in the country, including 25 deaths, till now. The fresh deaths were reported from Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Telangana each.