Over 5 lakh PPEs being manufactured per day in India: Dr Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that over 5 lakh personal protective equipment per day are being produced by the 110 PPE manufacturers in the country.

"Now we have 110 PPE manufacturers in India, producing over 5 lakh per day. States who used to complain about not getting an adequate number of PPEs, now say they do not have a place to keep them when we talk about sending PPEs," Harsh Vardhan said here at the 79th Foundation Day of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Union Health Minister further said that India has conducted around 7 crore tests for COVID-19 and the recovery rate is improving.

"In the initial phase, the recovery rate stood at 9-12 per cent. But today, the recovery rate is around 82 per cent and the fatality rate is around 1.6 per cent," he said.

"We started with one lab when the COVID-19 crisis started but today we have 1823 labs. We have crossed 7 crore tests and are doing tests around 13-15 lakhs per day during the past few days. Vaccines in India are in the initial phases of the trial," he added.

The country's COVID-19 case tally crossed 59-lakh mark with a spike of 85,362 new cases, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

As many as 1,089 deaths were reported during the same period, taking the toll to 93,379.

As per the Ministry, the total case tally in the country stands at 59,03,933 including 9,60,969 active cases, 48,49,585 cured/discharged/migrated cases and 93,379 deaths.

(ANI)

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