India has crossed a milestone of testing over 10 lakh samples for Covid-19 in a day, with more than 3.44 crore such tests conducted so far, while the caseload in the country is nearing the 30 lakh-mark.

As has been reported from the states and Union territories (UTs), which have pushed ahead with aggressive testing, there is a commensurate decline in the positivity rate, the Union health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

"Although a higher number of tests will initially lead to a rise in the positivity rate, it will eventually come down when combined with other measures such as prompt isolation, efficient tracking and timely, effective and clinical management," the ministry said.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, "Keeping with its promise of exponentially increasing the number of daily Covid-19 tests, India has crossed a significant milestone of testing more than 10 lakh samples in a day."

With 10,23,836 Covid-19 tests performed on Friday, the country has achieved its resolve to test 10 lakh samples daily, he added.

The average number of Covid-19 tests conducted daily over the last three weeks also depicts the progress made in increasing the number of such tests across the country, Vardhan said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), on an average, 8,89,935 Covid-19 tests were conducted daily in the country during the last five days.

A total of 3,44,91,073 samples were tested for the disease in the country till August 21.

India is also testing around 74.7 people per one-lakh population, much higher than the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines of testing 14 people per one-lakh population, the apex health research body said.

Of the total 10,23,836 samples tested on Friday, around 3.8 lakh were subjected to rapid-antigen tests, sources said.

Of the total samples tested for Covid-19 so far in the country, around 28 per cent were subjected to rapid-antigen tests, they added.

"In a testament to the determined, focussed, consistent and coordinated efforts of the Centre and the state and UT governments, India has conducted 1 million tests in a span of 24 hours. With 10,23,836 tests done on Friday, India has achieved its resolve to test 10 lakh samples daily," the ministry said.

Combined with enhanced testing, the policies of the Centre, states and UTs have facilitated easy testing across the country. This has boosted the daily testing capacity, the ministry said.

A record number of daily tests has been achieved by evaluating and validating laboratories for Covid-19 testing across the country, the ICMR said.

Starting with one laboratory at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, the total number of Covid-specific testing laboratories was 1,511 as on Friday -- 983 dedicated government facilities and 528 private ones.

"In a diverse country like India, for an equitable access to testing, optimisation of resources based on the evolving epidemic was an essential part of the sustainable scaling up," Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of ICMR, said.

Through ardent efforts, it was ensured that a specific testing platform was made available, addressing general testing (RT-PCR), high-throughput testing (COBAS), testing at remotest places and PHCs (TrueNAT, CBNAAT), in containment areas (rapid-antigen testing) and for migrant population testing (pooled sample testing), he added.

With a record single-day spike of 69,874 cases, India's Covid-19 tally increased to 29,75,701, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 55,794 with 945 fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours, health ministry data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of recoveries has surged to 22,22,577, pushing the recovery rate to 74.69 per cent, according to the data.

The Covid-19 case fatality rate has declined to 1.87 per cent, the data said.

India is on the third spot currently in the world in terms of Covid-19 caseload after the US and Brazil.

The ICMR said it has set up Covid-19 testing laboratories even in the remotest parts of the country, including one at an altitude of 18,000 feet in Ladakh's Leh and another at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"The ultimate goal is that testing should be available to everyone in need and no one should be left behind," the ICMR said.