Delta variant continues to remain active in Telangana

Daily new Covid infections fail to drop significantly unlike the first wave due to the variant

Hyderabad: The daily new Covid infections in Telangana have dropped when compared to the surge in March and April when the second wave was its peak. However, thanks to the aggressive nature of the Delta variant (B 1.617.2) of SARS-CoV-2, unlike the first wave, the active Covid cases during the second wave have not dropped swiftly.

As a result, not only in Telangana but across India, due to the Delta variant, the daily new Covid infections have not reduced completely. The average baseline of daily infections in the country is at around 40,000 while in Telangana, the daily number is between 700 and 800 Covid infections.

For past few weeks, there are at least ten districts in Telangana where the daily infections have been consistent with no sign of a drop. The districts include Bhadradri Kothagudem, areas under GHMC, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mancherial, Nalgonda, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Peddapalli, Suryapet and Warangal urban and rural combined.

Due to the difficulties in containing the contagious Delta variant, the State health authorities recently also cautioned people to take precautions during the ongoing festival season. “Let me caution you that the decline of cases has been slow in some parts of the State. It is not over yet. The conditions are not favourable and are encouraging for the Covid situation in certain parts of Telangana. Only public contribution by actively following Covid appropriate behaviour will help mitigate the third wave,” Director of Public Health, Dr G Srinivasa Rao in the advisory warned.

The second wave in India was driven by the Delta variant and countries across the world are now experiencing third wave due to the delta variant. India could face a third wave only when the virus mutates further and people do not follow Covid appropriate behaviour, doctors here believe.

At present, people have the only option of following Covid appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated quickly. Senior health officials pointed out that there could be a possibility wherein the delta variant remains active for a long time, till it runs out of susceptible individuals in a population.

Given the uncertainty over the timeline on when the delta variant will become weak, public health officials in Telangana have urged people to focus on Covid appropriate behaviour and not allow new variants of SARS-CoV-2 to get a foothold in the community.