Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Active Covid cases hit a new high in Telangana

By M. Sai Gopal

Published: Published Date - 12:09 AM, Wed - 14 April 21

File Photo On March 1, the number of active Covid cases in Telangana were 1,907 which within 42 days, surged to 24,131 - a 12 fold increase - by April 12

Hyderabad: The ongoing second wave of Covid infections across the country including Telangana has been quite sudden leading to a surge in the number of active cases.

On March 1, the number of active Covid cases in Telangana were 1,907 which within 42 days, surged to 24,131 – a 12 fold increase – by April 12. Also, the number of active cases on April 1 were 6,159 and in just 12 days, another 17,972 active cases got added.

With public health experts across the country forecasting a further rise of cases during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic, there are apprehensions of active cases continuing to rise and cross last year’s peak in Telangana.

Last year, the first Covid-19 case in Telangana was detected on March 3 and cases continued to rise gradually. Senior doctors pointed out that last year’s countrywide lockdown played a vital role in postponing the peak of Covid infections.

However, immediately after lockdown, the cases started to rise and by May 2020, the number of active cases in TS were 533 and by August 24, the number reached 23,737. The active cases in 2020 peaked in the month of September before starting to drop between October and December.

Due to the surge of Covid infections, Telangana now has an Effective Reproductive number (Rt) or the Reproduction Number of 1.65. A reproduction number of 1.65 means that one Covid positive person spreads the infection to anywhere between 1.51 to 1.83 persons.

Due to higher Reproduction Number, there is always a chance of exponential rise of Covid cases in the coming days, senior doctors here fear. The Reproduction Number of Telangana is also higher than the national average of 1.33.