The Telangana government on Monday denied claims that the state was at a higher risk of community transmission of COVID-19.
Health Minister Eatala Rajender's office issued a statement after an infographic by India.in.pixels claimed that Telangana had a 122% risk of community transmission.
"The formula behind this infographic is the creation of a private person who is neither a doctor nor an expert. It is neither a scientific formula nor issued by the government," the statement said.
"The formula assumes that only 2,933 are quarantined in Telangana which is an absolute lie. The actual number of people in quarantine in the state will be several times that number. But the organisation which created this infographic has conveniently ignored that fact," it added.
The Health Minister also pointed out that the infographic used self-reported data from Arogya Setu App which was not used by everyone.
"The person who designed this himself says it is not a prediction of 'severity' and does not make any claim about 'spread'. Hence this is a complete misinterpretation of data and not a true reflection of the situation on ground. This is nothing but plain mischief!" the statement said.
Meanwhile, Telangana continued to see a rise in COVID-19 cases as 872 people tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. The new cases pushed the state's tally to 8,674. A state government bulletin said 4,005 people have been discharged so far, while 4,452 were under treatment.
The Greater Hyderabad area, the worst affected among all districts, accounted for 713 of the new cases. As many as 107 tested positive in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district. The remaining cases were registered from 10 districts.
The state saw a sudden surge in cases after it increased the number of tests. The government has announced conducting 50,000 tests in Greater Hyderabad and surrounding districts.
IANS inputs