Telangana Covid-19 cases dip below 1,000, tests down by half

HYDERABAD: Telangana on Monday reported 11 deaths and 983 new cases of Covid-19 as authorities said low testing could the reason for the dip in numbers.
As against 19,202 samples tested a day back, only 9,443 samples were tested on Monday. “Samples have piled up at certain laboratories due to shortage of staff because of festivals, and weekend. In fact, the number of people coming forward for testing has dipped.Generally, the numbers are slightly less on weekends but this week since it was Varalakshmi Vratam and Raksha Bandhan around the weekend, less sample collection happened,” said an official from the state health department. Samples testing has taken a hit in the state with over 3000 pending samples over the last two days.
The state health department is hoping to ramp up testing to 25,000 and had crossed the 22,000-mark days back, but the pile up has once again hit the testing. With the latest numbers, Telangana’s total number of cases now stands at 67,660 cases and the toll crossed
551. Among districts which saw the maximum number of cases is GHMC area with 273 cases, followed by 73 cases in Ranga Reddy, 48 cases in Medchal Malkajgiri, 57 in Warangal Urban, 54 in Karimnagar and 42 in Nizamabad.