Fall in COVID-19 testing worries Indian authorities

FILE PHOTO: People stand in a queue to receive a dose of COVISHIELD vaccine, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, outside a vaccination centre in Siliguri in the eastern state of West Bengal, India, October 7, 2021. Picture taken on October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An alarming fall in testing for COVID-19 threatens to undermine India's efforts to contain the pandemic, the federal health ministry said on Wednesday in a letter to state governments, as worries grew over fresh waves of infection abroad.

India reported on Wednesday 9,283 new COVID-19 cases, a day after recording 7,579 infections - the lowest in 543 days. But testing has hovered around 1 million per day for the past few weeks, less than half the capacity.