<span style="color: #222222;">The Telangana state government has decided to scale up to double the COVID tests to contain the spread of virus. The state Cabinet decided to conduct 40 thousand Coronavirus tests daily and the government directed officials to increase the testing capacity to this extent. Presently the state is conducting about 20 thousand tests per day and conducted over 5.43 lakh tests ever since the pandemic began. The state Cabinet also decided to act stringently against private hospitals, which were indulging in irregularities while giving treatment to the COVID-19 patients.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, the surge in COVID-19 cases continued in Telangana, with 2,092 new cases being reported during the past 24 hours. It is the highest single day spike so far, while the death toll mounted to 589 after 13 more people succumbed to the virus.<br />''<br />''Out of the new cases, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area reported 535 COVID cases while Rangareddy district reported 169, Warangal Urban reported 128, Medchal-Malkajgiri reported 126 and Karimnagar reported 123 fresh cases. According to the state COVID bulletin, the recovery rate reported at 71.3 per cent.</span><br />