Sunday slump in testing, but cases stay above 2,000-mark

Duty beckons: A group of nurses, who are among the frontline warriors in the battle against COVID-19, walking to a hospital in the city where they work. (Source: The Hindu)

Telangana recorded 2,251 coronavirus cases on Sunday, down by nearly 900 from Saturday’s 3,187 infections. Comparatively low testing, which is the norm on Sundays, is believed to be the reason for detection of fewer cases. While 1,15,311 samples were examined on Saturday, only 79,027 were tested on Sunday. Results of 2,975 were awaited.

Six more patients died, pushing up the toll to 1,968.

Of the new cases, the highest of 355 were from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation region, followed by 258 from Medchal-Malkajgiri, 244 from Nizamabad and 200 from Rangareddy.

Besides, 132 cases were detected in Sangareddy and 117 from Jagtial. The lowest of seven cases were from Mulugu.

Meanwhile, ICU bed occupancy by COVID patients continues to surge. While 1,821 people with severe symptoms were in intensive care on Saturday, it increased to 1,968 on Sunday. ICU beds in most prominent corporate hospitals were full.

So far, the State has tested over 1.10 crore samples, leading to detection of 3,29,732 infections since March 2. Of the total, 21,864 were active cases while the number of recoveries stand at 3,05,900.