Over 70.07 crore Covid tests have been conducted in India till now. (File)
The number of COVID-19 cases has started falling in a few cities in India, but it is still unclear whether the country is under-reporting the cases or if there has been a fall in testing. The number of cases had been on the rise since late last year due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Even as the Election Commission meets today to decide if the ban imposed by it on public rallies should continue ahead of the assembly elections in five states, India recorded at least 2.68 lakh new cases today, raising the tally to 3.67 crore, including 6,041 cases of Omicron. Over 70.07 crore tests have been conducted in India till now.
In the last 24 hours, Covid cases are up by less than two per cent. It sounds encouraging, but is that the true picture of the new cases?
India's daily tests have not kept up with the speed at which cases have shot up in the last month. Cases are up 265 per cent but tests are up only 4 per cent.
But the most important metric is the positivity rate which continues to spike - crossing 16 per cent today. This shows that more and more tests are turning out to be positive.