The Telangana High Court on Monday directed the state government to conduct one lakh RT-PCR, or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, tests amid the third wave of the pandemic, India Today reported.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice N Tukaramj also asked health authorities to provide details about RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests conducted in daily bulletins, IANS reported.
The court was hearing public interest litigations about the coronavirus situation.
Advocates L Ravichandra and C Prabhakar, representing the petitioners, said that the state government had failed to follow the court’s order on mass testing.
They said that the state was conducting less than 1 lakh tests. The figure includes both RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests. The advocates also said the state has not been demarcating containment zones.
Ravichandra and Prabhakar pointed out that many High Court advocates have tested positive for the disease. The government, they submitted, has failed to prevent a surge of coronavirus cases in the Telangana.
The chief justice asked the state government to submit a compliance report on or before January 24. The court will hear the case on January 25.
On Sunday, Telangana recorded 2,047 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 7,09,209. The toll rose to 4,057 with three more fatalities.
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