HYDERABAD: New Coronavirus cases plummeted to a low of 661 for Saturday, the day of Diwali. Three more persons succumbed to the disease on Saturday. The total cases stood at 2,57,374 and the deaths at 1,404.
Coupled with a fall in the number of tests during weekends, Telangana state reported testing of only 21,264 samples in the 24-hour period ending Saturday 8 pm. Of these tests, 11,907 were from primary and secondary contacts of those who tested positive in the past few days, while the remaining 9,357 were from individuals who either volunteered and got themselves tested or were referred for testing.
Another weekend low was on October 25 when 582 new cases were detected. Only 14,729 individuals were tested for the virus. Another day that had registered lower cases than on Saturday was June 20, when 546 new cases were reported from 3,188 samples that were tested.
It may be noted that during the earlier months of the pandemic, positive cases were on a consistent high and the ratio between new cases and tests was much higher. This was not just because of the disease spreading faster but testing was done using Rt-PCR tests, considered the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. Since July, the state has been using the much less reliable Rapid Antigen Tests extensively. They are not known to present accurate results.
It has been noticed that there has been a significant reduction in testing and new cases on weekends now for the past couple of months. Meanwhile, the GHMC jurisdiction continues to have the maximum new cases compared to all other districts.
The health department said that on Saturday GHMC recorded 167 new cases, nearly a fourth of the 661 across the state. Ranga Reddy district with 57 and Medchal-Malkajgiri with 45 cases are second and third, respectively.
As a likely result of the low testing, Yadadri-Bhongir, Wanaparthy, Vikarabad, Rajanna-Siricilla, Peddapalli, Nirmal, and Kamareddy districts registered cases in single digits, down from the double-digit figures they recorded since November 9.
There were 15,425 active Covid-19 cases in the state as on November 14 evening of whom 2,526 are undergoing treatment in various government and private hospitals.
