India has conducted more than five lakh COVID-19 tests in a single day over two consecutive days. Union Health Ministry said this is the outcome of the combined and focused efforts of Centre, State and Union Territories governments on aggressive testing. During the last 24 hours, India tested a total of 5,15000 samples. Testing is the first important step in the early detection and isolation of COVID-19 positive cases.

The graded and evolving response resulted in a testing strategy that steadily widened the testing network in the country, and the cumulative testing has crossed 1,73,00000.

The Tests Per Million has further improved to 12,562. Health Ministry said, the testing capacity of India has received another boost with the induction of three high throughput testing facilities in Noida, Mumbai and Kolkata that were inaugurated virtually.

The testing lab network in the country has been strengthened with  1310 labs in the country, 905 labs in the government sector and 405 private labs.

Meanwhile, the human clinical trials of potential Covid-19 vaccine called COVAXIN has started at AIIMS, New Delhi. The first dose was given to a 30-year-old man in AIIMS-Delhi yesterday.

Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech have joined hands for the development of 'Covaxin'. AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research for conducting phase I and II human trials of COVAXIN. In phase I, the vaccine would be tested on 375 volunteers and a maximum of 100 of them would be from AIIMS.

Healthy volunteers having no comorbid conditions and without a history of COVID-19, aged more than 18 years and less than 55 years, would be eligible to participate in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.