Covid second wave ended in Telangana: DPH

Hyderabad: The second wave of Covid-19, which peaked in the months of March-April and remained active after the lockdown restrictions were lifted, has ended and is under complete control across Telangana, Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao on Wednesday said.

In the last few weeks, the reproductive number or the R value is down to 0.7 and there is a considerable dip in positivity rate and hospital bed occupancy ratio in the State.

“Going by the trends, we can safely say that Covid second wave has ended and it is under complete control. There is a consistent drop in daily positive infections, R value and bed occupancy ratio. Positive cases in eight to nine districts in Telangana, where the Delta variant was active, have also dropped,” Dr Rao said.

The R value, which is an indication of how fast the Covid infections are spreading, in Telangana is less than one. “For a long time, the R value was over one, which was a concern. However, now it is about 0.7, which is good news,” he said.

The DPH credited the general public for the steady dip in Covid infections. “The credit must go to people. In the last month, there were several festivals including Bakrid and Bonalu, apart from marriages and private functions. Despite such public events, people ensured they followed Covid appropriate behaviour, which played an important role in the reduction of Covid infections,” he said.

At present, the average daily number of Covid infections in Telangana is hovering between 400 and 430 while there are close to 7,000 active Covid cases. There are close to 55,000 dedicated Covid beds of which 3,200 are occupied.

“Normalcy can be restored”

Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao said that normalcy in all walks of life, including the opening of schools and IT offices, can be restored in Telangana.

“Covid second wave is completely under control and schools and IT offices can now function normally. We have ensured that all the teachers and other support staff in government schools are vaccinated. People, however, must continue to take precautions including wearing masks,” he added.

424 new cases, two fatalities

Telangana has reported 424 new Covid infections and two fatalities on Wednesday taking the cumulative number of deaths to 3,849 and the total number of positive cases to 6,53,626. The number of active cases in Telangana, as of Wednesday, was 6,912.

On Wednesday, authorities conducted 91,350 Covid tests of which results of 1,118 samples were awaited. A total of 449 individuals have recovered with a recovery rate of 98.35 per cent on Wednesday. So far, a total of 2,36,57,520 Covid-19 tests have been conducted in the State out of which 6,53,626 have tested positive and 6,42,865 persons have recovered.

The Covid-19 positive cases reported from the districts included five from Adilabad, seven from Bhadradri Kothagudem, 73 from areas under GHMC, 10 from Jagtiyal, four from Jangaon, five from Jayashankar Bhupalpally, one from Kamareddy, 46 from Karimnagar, 23 from Khammam, four each Komarambheem Asifabad and Mahabubnagar, six from Mahabubabad, 10 from Mancherial, five from Medak, 23 from Medchal-Malkajgiri, six from Mulugu, three from Nagarkurnool, 24 from Nalgonda, one from Narayanpet, three from Nirmal, six from Nizamabad, 21 from Peddapalli, eight from Rajanna Siricilla, 27 from Rangareddy, seven from Sangareddy, 17 from Siddipet, 19 from Suryapet, three from Vikarabad, four from Wanaparthy, 15 from Warangal Rural, 24 from Warangal Urban and 10 from Yadadri Bhongir.

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