NEW DELHI 

India conducted a record 528,000 tests for the novel coronavirus across the country in the last 24 hours, said the Ministry of Health on Tuesday, with the two-day total at over 1 million.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday that the country was conducting more than 500,000 tests per day and efforts are underway to increase this capacity to 1 million in the coming weeks.

"More tests will assist early detection and treatment, thereby helping fight the spread of the virus," said Modi.

Meanwhile, the fatality rate for coronavirus in India continues to fall, now standing at 2.28%.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India have risen to 1,483,156, according to the ministry on Tuesday. The coronavirus-related death toll has risen to 33,425.

India has registered 47,704 coronavirus-positive cases and 654 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.

The pandemic has killed more than 654,000 people worldwide, with over 16.4 million confirmed cases and over 9.5 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.