Over 41,000 people tested for COVID-19 in Punjab so far: Minister

Chandigarh, May 13 () Over 41,000 people have been tested for coronavirus across Punjab since April beginning, state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said.

The state has increased its testing per million to 1,392 per day against the national average of 1,243, he said.

"Punjab has completed testing of 41,849 people for coronavirus as of Wednesday," Sidhu said in a statement here.

The minister said Punjab has "rapidly ramped up" its testing rate by increasing its lab capacities.

He said 20,000 samples were tested in the state by May 2.

The state conducted the next set of 10,000 tests in just five days, crossing the mark of 30,000 tests by May 7, Sidhu said.

A proposal has also been sent by the Department of Health to the Centre to set up four new labs in the district hospitals at Barnala, Roopnagar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur, he added. VSD CHS SNESNE