Telangana, which is among the States that tested very few Covid-19 samples, has decided to more than double the number of tests. It plans to test 50,000 samples in the next 10 days. This is a big jump from the 41,000 it has tested so far over the three months since Covid-19 was reported in the State.

Though the State had defended its action saying it was following ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) guidelines, critics found fault with its strategy, expressing concern that testing low could result in a spurt of infections.

About 20-30 per cent of all the tests have turned positive in the last 10 days.

With criticism mounting by the day and the virus spreading in the Greater Hyderabad Muncipal Corporation (GHMC) area, the Telangana government has decided to conduct 50,000 tests in the next 10 days.

The new tests will be conducted in five districts, covering 30 constituencies, which by and large constitute the GHMC area.

Areas to be covered

The tests will be conducted in the 30 Assembly segments of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Medchal, and Sangareddy, the five districts that have been registering a very high number of cases.

On Sunday, the State registered 237 new cases, including 195 from the GHMC area, on testing about 750 samples — a positive case for almost every three samples tested.

It reported three new deaths, taking the tally to 185. The number of active cases stood at 2,412.

Reviewing the Covid-19 situation in the State on Sunday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao asked officials to prepare guidelines to conduct the tests and offer treatments free of cost.

“Hyderabad is the heart of Telangana State. We need to protect the health and image of the city,” he said.

The Chief Minister, who had earlier denied permission to private labs to conduct tests, has decided to allow them in to meet the target of 50,000 tests in the next 10 days.

He asked the officials to encourage home quarantine for those who test positive but have no serious symptoms.

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