Less than 2% Covid patients in ICUs; recovered cases exceed active ones by over 2.81L: Vardhan

New Delhi: Less than two per cent Coronavirus patients in the country are admitted in ICUs while the number of recovered cases exceeds that of the active ones by 2,81,668 as on Thursday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said as India's COVID-19 tally surged to 9.68 lakh while the death toll climbed to 24,915.

Vardhan's remarks came after he inaugurated the new block of the Rajkumari Amrit Kaur OPD on Thursday at the AIIMS here along with Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

"Gradually we are moving in the direction to win the battle against the pandemic. Less than two per cent of the COVID-affected patients are admitted in ICUs," Vardhan said, elaborating on the country's collective efforts against Coronavirus, a health ministry statement said.

The lab network has been strengthened significantly from one in January to 1,234 laboratories presently, the statement said. A cumulative total of 1,27,39,490 samples have been tested up to July 15. A total of 3,26,826 samples were tested on Wednesday, it said.

The testing capacity will be further enhanced to 10 lakh tests per day in the coming 12 weeks, Vardhan said, adding that this was matched with the progressively increasing recovered cases and the steadily increasing gap between recovered and active cases.

"This signifies that the measures taken as part of the graded, pre-emptive and pro-active approach under the 'Whole of Government' strategy is showing positive results," he said.

Vardhan also asked Director, AIIMS and other officials to expedite the operationalisation of the Mother and Child Block, Elderly Block and Surgery Block so that people can reap health benefits at the earliest, the ministry's statement said. The minister urged officials and heads of departments to undertake detailed and collective brainstorming sessions to assess and analyse the innovative steps to ensure that all the patients get the best quality healthcare.