The Prime Minister was speaking at the launch of three high throughput COVID-19 testing facilities via video conferencing on Monday. These facilities are located at the National Institutes of Indian Council of Medical Research, at Kolkata, Mumbai and Noida.
He said that these hi-tech testing facilities will boost the testing capacity by almost 10,000 daily tests. He said, more number of tests will assist early detection and treatment which will bolster the fight against the Corona virus.
He added that these labs will not be limited to testing for COVID, but in future, will also be able to test for Hepatitis B and C, HIV, Dengue and several other diseases.
The Prime Minister said that it was imperative for the country to develop Corona specific health infrastructure at a fast pace. He noted that the Centre had announced a package of 15 thousand crore at the beginning of this health menace.
PM Modi said, the country now has more than 11 thousand COVID facilities and more than 11 lakh isolation beds.
He said that at present, more than five lakh tests are being conducted in the country daily and efforts are on to increase this capacity to 10 lakh in the coming weeks.
Prime Minister noted that the country has become the second largest PPE kit manufacturer. He said, the country has more than 1200 PPE kit manufacturer.
He also highlighted that the annual production capacity of ventilators in the country has become 3 lakh and there has also been a significant increase in the production of medical oxygen cylinders.