Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday claimed that India was better off than other countries in fighting the novel coronavirus, even as the country recorded nearly 50,000 cases for the second day running, NDTV reported. Modi was speaking at a virtual event to inaugurate Indian Council of Medical Research testing centres, called “high throughput” centres, in Noida, Mumbai and Kolkata.

“The recovery rate is better than most countries and already getting better,” Modi asserted. “The world is praising us because of the efforts of the foot soldiers. We don’t lack awareness.” The prime minister also claimed that it was due to his government’s proactive and preemptive efforts that India was doing better than other countries at controlling the contagion, the Hindustan Times reported.

Modi said India now has over 11,000 coronavirus isolation facilities and more than 11 lakh beds. “We want to save each and every Indian,” he said.

The prime minister pointed out that whereas at one point India did not manufacture a single kit of personal protective equipment, it was now the second-largest producer of such kits in the world. “Over 1,200 manufacturers are making PPE kits within six months,” he said. “Over three lakh N-95 masks are being made in India today. Three lakh ventilators can now be produced every year. While the country had only one Covid-19 testing centre in January, there are almost 1,300 such labs now.”

The prime minister said that the “high throughput centres” in Mumbai, Kolkata and Noida will increase testing capacity by almost 10,000 a day in each of the three cities. Mumbai has the second-highest number of cases for any city behind Delhi.

Modi said that around 5 lakh coronavirus tests are being carried out in India every day, and efforts are on to increase the number to 10 lakh within a few weeks. Modi said that in future, the new laboratories will also test patients for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, dengue and other illnesses.

Modi also asked people to be careful during the upcoming festive season. He said that as long as a vaccine is not developed, people must observe social distancing, wear masks and follow good hygiene.

India reported a record 49,931 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking its overall tally to 14,35,453. The toll rose to 32,771. India has the most number of cases after the United States and Brazil. According to the Indian Council of Medical research, more than 1.68 crore samples have been tested for the coronavirus so far.

The coronavirus has infected more than 1.64 crore people globally and claimed over 6.52 lakh lives, according to the Johns Hopkins University. But more than 95 lakh people have recovered.