Hyderabad, Apr 15 (IANS): Amid surge in Covid-19 cases in Telangana, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Thursday directed officials to increase the bed strength in government and private hospitals.

Kumar chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials here to take stock of the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the state.

He directed them to increase the bed count so as to be prepared for any eventuality in case of further increase in cases across the state.

The Chief Secretary also directed the District Collectors to ramp up testing, intensify vaccination and focus on enforcing the government orders on covid appropriate behavior, including mandatory wearing of masks.

Similarly, he asked them to double Covid care centres in all the districts.

The private hospitals should also be sensitized on the judicious usage of oxygen, Kumar added.

Telangana has reported 3,307 fresh Covid cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year.

In view of the second wave of Covid, the authorities recently added 10 government and about 25 private hospitals to the list of health facilities treating Covid patients.

The current bed strength of all Covid hospitals in the state is 22,575 including 9,281 in government-run centres.