The advisory comes on a day when India recorded 1,590 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, which is the highest single day count in 146 days.
Amid a fresh spike in the coronavirus case count, the Union health ministry, along with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), wrote to the state governments and Union territories on March 25, asking them to ensure “optimum testing” and promote the usage of masks in crowded settings.
The health ministry said testing for COVID-19 has “declined” in some states over the past several weeks, and is below the standard prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is 140 tests per million population.
“Hence, it is critical to maintain optimum testing for COVID-19, equitably distributed (with suitable modifications to address emergence of new cluster of Covid cases) across the states. This is especially important to identify any ‘emerging hotspots’ and take pre-emptive steps to curb virus transmission,” it said.