Telangana achieves 1 lakh tests, 1 lakh vaccines in a day

Hyderabad: Telangana has conducted one lakh Covid-19 tests and administered one lakh Covid vaccines in a single day.

The state’s health authorities achieved this milestone on Thursday. Director of Public Health and Family Welfare Dr G. Srinivasa Rao stated on Friday that this shows the awareness in the public, both about detection of and protection from Covid.

With the surge in Covid cases, the state has doubled the number of daily tests.

For the first time since the pandemic broke out, the authorities conducted over one lakh tests in a single day on Thursday. Of the total 1,01,986 tests conducted during last 24 hours, 89,645 samples were tested in government laboratories and 12,341 in private labs.

The official said Rapid Antigen Tests are being conducted at 1,064 centres.

He also stated that RT-PCR testing centres will be opened in 15 district headquarters in coming days. The department is taking steps to ensure that over 25,000 RT-PCR tests are conducted in the state every day.

The Telangana High Court on Thursday pulled up authorities for not conducting adequate number of RT-PCR tests.

The court voiced its displeasure over fewer RT-PCR tests at a time when the second wave of the pandemic is sweeping across the country. It asked the health authorities to increase RT-PCR tests to 70 per cent of all Covid tests as per guidelines issued by the Central government.

The health authorities on Thursday administered Covid vaccines to 1,02,886 people, the highest in a day. They have so far given 17.83 lakh doses.

Director of Public Health said that vaccination was underway at over 1,100 centres across the state. The Health Department plans to ramp up the numbers in coming days.

Rao said Sero survey will be conducted in all districts barring Hyderabad.

The director also pointed out that 80 per cent of about 10,000 beds in government-run hospitals were vacant.