After facing widespread criticism over not ensuring adequate testing, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday evening finally announced that testing will be ramped up in the State. He said that as many as 50,000 Covid-19 tests will be conducted in 7-10 days in 30 assembly constituencies.

He also declared that government hospitals, sarkari labs and private labs will be leveraged for the thousands of tests. He also assured that rates for tests in private laboratories will be decided by the government, so also the treatment costs in private hospitals.

Positive patients will be sent for home quarantine if they do not have severe symptoms. They will be treated in their homes.

At a time when Telangana is alleged to be having inadequate ICU beds and ventilators, KCR claimed, "We have got enough test kits, PPE kits, N95 masks, ICU beds and ventilators."

The CM's announcements come just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled video conference with the CMs of all States. The government may have tried to neutralize some of the flak by ramping up tests in a big way.

Meanwhile, 237 new Covid-19 cases were logged in 16 districts of the State on Sunday.