The number of tests performed in Telangana to diagnose coronavirus crossed the one-crore mark on Saturday with a total of 57,942 samples being examined. The total tests now number 1,00,19,096.
While 535 persons tested positive, the results of 1,143 were awaited. Three more COVID patients died.
The new cases include 154 from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation region, 49 from Medchal-Malkajgiri, 39 from Rangareddy, 22 from Sangareddy and 21 from Mahbubnagar. Only one case was detected in Mulugu.
Of the total 3,06,339 cases, 4,495 were active with 3,00,156 having recovered. The death toll stands at 1,688.
Increased testing
The number of tests in a day is once again being increased to 60,000 to 70,000 a day.
The daily tests were low when the cases started to surge in the State in March last year. People clamoured for more tests and hassle-free sample collection. The demand was addressed from mid-June. Private labs, too, were allowed to conduct tests. The Health department started to share data on the daily tests around the same time.
The number of people tested in a day gradually increased thereon — from a maximum of 4,000 tests a day in June to around 2,000 by end of July. A sharp spike in daily tests was observed from August 25 to September 11 when around 60,000 samples were examined per day. It was during this period that 2,000 to 3,000 people tested positive on a daily basis.
The number of tests dropped to around 40,000 to 55,000 in October. Thereafter, the numbers decreased each month.
When the cases were decreasing in January and February this year, 30,000-43,000 samples were being examined in a day.
Signs of second wave started to appear from March 9 and testing was gradually ramped up. Currently, around 60,000 samples are tested in a day.