‘Delta Plus strain not a major threat in Telangana’

Hyderabad: The steady rise of Delta Plus variant (AY.4.2) of SARS-CoV-2 and the probable threat of a third Covid wave after the festival season should not become a cause of worry or panic among people in Telangana, public health officials here have said. The AY.4.2 sub-variant might be more transmissible than the Delta variant, but […]

Hyderabad: The steady rise of Delta Plus variant (AY.4.2) of SARS-CoV-2 and the probable threat of a third Covid wave after the festival season should not become a cause of worry or panic among people in Telangana, public health officials here have said.

The AY.4.2 sub-variant might be more transmissible than the Delta variant, but it’s not a major threat, as present conditions in Telangana are clearly indicating that the pandemic is likely to remain under control till March next year.

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Senior health officials said that aggressive Covid vaccination, natural immunity acquired by majority of the population and the present situation wherein the dominant Delta variant appears to have burnt itself out by infecting a large population in the community should help Telangana avoid a third significant surge of Covid infections in the coming months.

“Barring a few localised surge events, the pandemic is completely under control. We are expecting not to see any major change, like a significant surge for the third time, till March. People, however, must get their second dose of Covid vaccines and continue to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour,” says Director of Public Health (DPH), Dr G Srinivasa Rao.

People must not panic about AY.4.2 variant of Delta, since Delta Plus positive infections were also seen in June/July in Telangana. Despite that, Delta Plus variant did not trigger a significant surge and the Delta variant continued to remain dominant across Telangana.
On their part, geneticists involved in the genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants across the country have pointed out that at present, the Delta Plus variant is not threatening enough to trigger a third wave.

“There are many crucial differences between the AY.4.2 variant that was reported in the United Kingdom and what is present in India. At this moment, this variant is not at all significant, when we compare it to the Delta variant, which has remained the dominant strain for the past one year across the country,” clinical geneticist from Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Karthik Bharadwaj said during a recent interaction with mediapersons.

Despite no indication of a fresh resurgence of Covid infections, the Health Department is not taking chances and has completed preparations, in terms of upgrading medical infrastructure, for a possible third Covid wave in Telangana.

“We have upgraded medial infrastructure in all designated government hospitals that treat Covid infections. More oxygen beds are available and we have improved our ability to produce medical oxygen on our own. Special arrangements have been made for paediatric Covid infections too,” Dr Rao added.

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