Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Tops 31.6 Lakh With Nearly 61,000 New Cases

The cost of test kits in the country has significantly down with the help of startups and the Indian industry coming forward, said ICMR’s Directorate General Balram Bhargava.

Beginning of March the RT PCR kit was priced at Rs 1,150, and VTM and RNA extraction costing Rs 320 each. That’s is about Rs 1,790 just for the kits. With the indigenous kits available, the cost of the kits have come crashing down, he said.

Now RT PCR kit is available for Rs 138 and the VTM and RNA extraction kits are available for Rs 90 each. And the total cost is just about Rs 318, he said.

More than 3.6 crore Covid-19 tests have been conducted so far, said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• Recovered patients is now 3.4 times the active patients in the country.
• Recovery rate in the country has further increased to 75%
• The number of tests have increased substantially, but the positivity rate continues to come down.
• Seven day rolling average of the positivity rate in the country has come from 11% in first week of August to 8% now.
• About 2.70% of the active cases in the country are on oxygen support
• 1.92% of the total active cases in the country are in ICU
• 0.29% of the total active cases are on ventilators.

351 more police personnel found #COVID19 positive & 3 died in the last 24 hours in Maharashtra. Total number of Corona positive police personnel in Maharashtra reaches 14,067 including 2,569 active cases, 11,356 recoveries & 142 deaths till date: Maharashtra Police pic.twitter.com/RHdzQkHfrM

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2020

It would be unsafe for students to visit test centres physically amid #COVID19 for JEE (Main) & NEET tests. Therefore, it is requested that exams scheduled to be held in September may be postponed to a later date: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in a letter to Union Education Minister pic.twitter.com/uTqHh3A8cl

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2020

India has tested more than 3.5 crore people for #COVID19 so far, resolutely following its 'Test Track Treat' strategy: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare pic.twitter.com/ko07vU2TKs

— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2020

Global Update

Scientists in Hong Kong confirmed the first case of coronavirus re-infection. Moderna Inc. said it’s near a deal to supply at least 80 million vaccine doses to the European Union, as the spread of cases accelerates across the continent. In Singapore, a newly confirmed case was identified in a foreign worker dormitory that had previously been declared clear. Hong Kong reported its first single-digit increase in daily cases since the latest wave of infections began in early July.

Globally, cases crossed 23.5 million leaving over 8,10,000 dead, as of Monday morning.

Track all Covid-19 related news and updates in India, here.