Telangana records 8 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, the highest in a single day

Coronavirus claimed eight more lives in Telangana on Friday, pushing the state's death toll to 113. This is the highest single-day fatality figure since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the state.

The state has been reporting fatalities on a daily basis for the last three weeks.

Meanwhile, Telangana also saw one of the highest single-day jumps in positive cases with 143 people testing positive for coronavirus during the last 24 hours, ending 5 pm on Friday.

No new cases were reported among migrants and deportees for the second day in a row.

Out of 143 new cases, 116 were reported in Greater Hyderabad, the worst affected among all districts in the state. Eight people also tested positive in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district.

At Serilingampally, a person who underwent dialysis at a private hospital tested positive, and three primary contacts of the patient have been isolated. Another couple from Attapur also tested positive after the woman received dialysis treatment at another private hospital. Several dialysis patients and their contacts have tested positive in Telangana, reported Times of India.

Four medical staff at Bholakpur primary health care centre and a woman circle inspector and her doctor husband from Saroornagar, also tested positive.

With this, the state's tally of cases rose to 3,290 including 448 migrants, deportees and foreign returnees.

So far, about 1,627 people have recovered and been discharged and about 1,550 patients are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals.

Meanwhile, Health Minister E Rajender maintained that the state is following guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct COVID-19 tests on symptomatic and high-risk people.

He once again dismissed allegations by the opposition parties that the government is doing fewer tests. Contending that such allegations by the opposition were proving to be a hindrance to the government in its efforts to tackle the situation, he advised the opposition to give constructive advice to the government. The minister also urged activists to approach the government with suggestions and queries before approaching the Telangana High Court.

Referring to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases among doctors and other frontline workers, Rajender said the government was taking all steps for their protection. The minister claimed that over 10 lakh PPE kits and the required number of masks for doctors were available.