Eight deaths 1 892 new COVID-19 cases in Telangana

    Hyderabad, Jul 3 (PTI) Telangana reported eight more COVID-19 deaths on Friday, taking their number to 283 as 1,892 fresh cases of the infection, the highest single-day spike so far in the state, pushed the tally to 20,462.    
    Out of the 1,892 fresh cases, 1,658 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, the epicentre of the virus spread in the state, followed by Ranga Reddy district, neighbouring Hyderabad, with 56 cases.
    A bulletin issued late Friday night said 10,195 people have been discharged so far, while 9,984 patients were under treatment.
    According to the bulletin, 5,965 samples were tested on Friday. Cumulatively, 1,04,118 samples have been tested.
    It said one of the private laboratories has reported an extremely high sample positivity rate.
    The facility has reported 2,672 positive cases against 3,726 samples tested, the bulletin said.
    The positivity rate is at 71.7 per cent, which is a gross variation and discrepancy in the notified positivity rate of COVID-19 till date, it said.
    The issue needs to be evaluated by an expert committee and, until then, the data of the said lab has been kept under abeyance, the bulletin added.
    Official sources said the test results given by the said lab have not been included in Friday's report.
    The state government had earlier asked some private labs to rectify shortcomings after inaccuracies were found in those facilities during inspections.
    Meanwhile, BJP MLA Raja Singh, in a video release, alleged that private hospitals in the city were “looting” COVID-19 patients.
    He urged the chief minister to rein in private hospitals that troubled patients.
    Singh shared the video of a patient who claimed that a private hospital had demanded an exorbitant payment from him for treatment. PTI SJR IJT

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)