Gujarat conducting 3,000 COVID-19 tests everyday: Official

(Eds: correcting typo in headline)

Ahmedabad, Apr 23 () As many as 3,000 coronavirus tests are being conducted in Gujarat everyday and there isnoplan to reduce it, a senior official said on Thursday whiledismissing rumours that the state government has reducedCOVID-19 testing.

The Gujarat government has also decided to declare thefigures of coronavirus tests and deaths only once in 24 hours,instead of the present practice of providing the details twicea day, state principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi toldreporters in Gandhinagar.

"We have not reduced the tests to detect coronaviruscases. We are conducting 3,000 tests everyday in Gujarat. Outof these, 2,500 samples are collected from across the statewhile 500 samples are of those who are already quarantined oradmitted to hospitals," she said.

The official was responding to questions on rumoursabout less number of COVID-19 tests being done in the state.

"Till now, we used to share tests and death figuresonce in the morning and then in the evening. To avoid anyduplication of data, we will now share the details only in theevening. The figures will reflect all the tests conductedacross the state during 24 hours," she said.

Till Wednesday, the state reported 2,407 coronaviruscases and 103 deaths.

The official said the number of COVID-19 cases haveincreased significantly because of the intensive surveillanceand testing in areas which have been declared as hotspots.

Asked where Gujarat stands in terms of COVID-19 casesand deaths, she said "this is not a competition".

She said majority of the coronavirus victims who diedwere either aged or suffering from other ailments, like heartdisease and high diabetes. PJT PDGK GKGK GK