Assam’s Health Department on Tuesday reached the milestone of one million COVID-19 tests in the state after its first COVID-19 testing lab was set up in the State on February 7. The first one lakh tests were completed by May 30 when the number of testing facilities went up to seven.
The number of testing labs grew rapidly and today the number stands at 17.
“Our teams have done extraordinary work in reaching the 10 lakh mark in a little over 8 weeks. The last one lakh tests came in just three days. It is remarkable,” Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Till Monday, around 58,391 rapid antigen tests were carried out in Kamrup Metro, and of them 5,742 were positive.
Across the State, 2,16,171 rapid antigen tests were done and 15,974 were positive.
“We target to conduct 50,000 tests daily from now on. If we can do so, in the next 15 days, the positivity rate is likely to go down to 2/ 1 per cent. We are on track. Slowly we will be able to break the chain,” Sarma said.
Yesterday, 2,371 positive cases were detected in the State, of which 414 were in Kamrup, Metro, 282 in Dibrugarh, 251 in Nagaon and 192 in Kamrup.