Hyderabad, Nov 26 (PTI): The Telangana High Court on Thursdayissued contempt notice against a senior state health official for not complying withits order that 50,000 COVID-19 diagnostic testsbe conducted daily and one lakh tests once a week.

Hearing a batch of PILs on COVID-19 pandemic, a division bench, headed by Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan, issued the notice to Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao asking him to explain within two weeks why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for not complying with its orders.

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The bench had on November 19 directed the state government toconduct 50,000 COVID-19 tests every day and to increase the number of tests to one lakh once a week.

The official submitted before the court that testing was being done for the people coming to the testing centres and that they cannot compel a citizen to be screened for the virus.

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The court said the tests were not conductedas per its directions and it was nothing but contempt as it asked him to explain.

It further directed the state government to increase the number of RT-PCR (tests for COVID-19) labs from existing 17 to 23 and also to increase the number of mobile testing vans and the area covered by them.

The bench adjourned the matter to December 17 with a direction to the government to file it's report by then. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)