The central government on Thursday told that the country has been able to slow down the infection rate to flatten the curve. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced lockdown since March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus. The country has entered into 30th day of COVID-19 lockdown.

The total number of coronavirus positive cases crossed over 21,000 and 686 deaths have been reported so far. Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) said the situation in India is currently stable and the growth of the infections has been more or less linear and not exponential.

As per the Union Health Ministry data, 4,325 people have so far recovered from the infection. The officials said that the percentage of positive cases as a ratio of testing is more or less the same as that a month ago.

Environment Secretary C K Mishra, the chairman of Empowered Group Two, told a daily media briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country. He asserted that, "During the 30 days of lockdown, we have been able to cut transmission, minimize spread and increase the doubling days of COVID-19. We have been able to consistently ramp up our testing and utilise our time preparing for the future in case the virus spreads further."

Mishra further added that the strategies they have adopted have succeeded in containing the infection to a particular level. After the lockdown has been imposed the number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 16 times, testing increased by 24 times.

Mishra told that RT-PCR which is a nose and throat swab test, still remains the standard for coronavirus testing. He added that India has done better than a majority of developed countries with respect to the percentage of test cases yielding positive results.

Mishra told that the US had done 5 lakh tests on March 26 and had found 80,000 cases to be positive, Italy had crossed the mark on March 31 and 1 lakh were found positive, the UK reached the stage on April 20 and found 1,20,000 positive cases while Turkey had done 5 lakh tests on April 16 and 80,000 were found to be infected.

He asserted that, "We are today at the half-million mark, India had conducted around 5 Lakh tests as on April 22 and had around 20,000 cases. So, if we do a worldwide comparison, we seem to be doing well so far with our strategy which is intensely focused on areas where we see a lot of positivity and action happening."

He told that they wanted to create a structure where they can test most people, treat them according to the need and then ensure they are able to cure them and save lives. (Inputs from agencies)

Also Read: Lockdown ‘Escapade’: Two COVID-19 Suspects Flee Quarantine In AP