Continuing the trend of surge in number of positive cases for the tenth day in a row, Telangana has reported 920 COVID positive cases on Thursday, taking the total to 11,364. With the death of five more patients, the total fatalities also rose to 230.
According to a bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health and Family Welfare, GHMC continues to remain the hotbed of coronavirus spread as the State capital has accounted for 737 out of 920 positive cases reported for the day, followed by 86 in neighbouring Rangareddy and 60 in Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. Karimnagar has reported another 13 cases and 14 districts have reported single-digit positive cases on Thursday.
A total of 3,616 samples were tested on Thursday with the cumulative tests reaching 70,934 so far. Of the sample tested, 2,696 were negative taking the total of negative reports to 59,570. With the discharge of 327 COVID patients after treatment, the total number has reached to 4,688 and the number of active cases is at 6,446.
The bulletin put the number of occupancy of beds earmarked for COVID patients at 1,083 against the availability of 17,081 with occupancy rate put at 6.34% in 34 designated government hospitals for treatment of the virus-infected patients. The DPH put the number of vacant isolation beds in COVID hospitals at 11,152 and the number of vacant beds with oxygen support at 3,482. Similarly, vacant ICU beds is put at 901 and vacant ventilator beds at 463.
The official bulletin has also pointed out that the COVID-19 test results uploaded on the portal by private labs have shown serious abnormality and attributed it to the technical issues in the way of testing. A team of specialists have inspected various private labs on Thursday to check the availability of infrastructure, trained manpower, procedure of testing and quality control.
Based on the reports, an expert committee will evaluate whether the testing protocols in those labs are in tune with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) standards or not. A view would be taken on further course of action, accordingly.
