The state government told the Andhra Pradesh Supreme Court on Thursday that it ranked 5th in the country’s per million population tests for COVID-19, with the figure topping two million residents.
In a memo presented to the court in response to a PIL filed by the AP Civil Liberties Association, the government also claimed it ran the highest number of Rt-PCR tests.
The government also denied allegations made by YV Ravi Prasad, amicus curiae of the court in matters related to the pandemic, that he had negligently carried out the diagnostic tests and objected to a comparison with the tests in neighboring states.
The government told the court that the state carried out 89,732 tests on June 7, while Mr Ravi Prasad pointed out that only 64,800 tests were carried out that day.
“Comparison loveless”
“A comparative statement by the Amicus Curiae that Telangana performed more than one lakh test per day is unfriendly as it is mostly quick antigen tests,” said the AP government.
In his June 9 memo, Ravi Prasad said there was no need to underline the imminent third wave of the pandemic and suggested that the court could order the state to increase the number of tests to control the spread of the virus. He also found that testing was the key to returning to normal.
“The state is negligent in conducting the tests, despite reporting nearly 100 deaths a day. While Telangana has done more than one lakh test per day and fewer than 20 deaths have been reported, “Prasad said.
The government also said the SOP set by the central government that nomads, prisoners, inmates of mental health facilities, citizens in old people’s homes, beggars, and people living in rehabilitation centers / camps should be vaccinated even if they don’t have one of the seven Photo IDs, including Aadhaar, were distributed to the district collectors and knot officials.