India crosses milestone of carrying out over 40 crore Covid-19 tests

India has achieved the milestone of conducting 40 crore Covid-19 tests since the pandemic began, with an daily average of more than 18 lakh tests in the month of June, the ICMR said on Saturday. India has tested 40,18,11,892 samples across the country till Friday, it said.

The country tested 35 crore Covid-19 samples till June 1, 2021, the remaining over 5 crore tests were conducted in last 24 days, according to ICMR. 

Prof Balram Bhargava, the Director General of ICMR, said exponential increase in testing has led to early identification, prompt isolation and effective treatment of COVID-19 cases and has eventually resulted in a sustained low fatality rate.