Rising cases evoke fears of fourth Covid wave in Telangana
Hyderabad: The new variants of Omicron — BA4 and BA5 — have started to drive up the daily Covid infections in several States, including Telangana, raising fears of a possible fourth Covid wave. Senior health officials from Telangana are keeping a close watch on the possibility of the fourth wave, even as many are pointing […]
Hyderabad: The new variants of Omicron — BA4 and BA5 — have started to drive up the daily Covid infections in several States, including Telangana, raising fears of a possible fourth Covid wave.
Senior health officials from Telangana are keeping a close watch on the possibility of the fourth wave, even as many are pointing out that hospitalisations and severity will probably be less when compared to the Delta-driven Covid wave of April-June 2021.
For the past few days, along with Telangana, a few other States including Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and to some extent Karnataka have been reporting a significant rise in daily Covid infections. As a result, health officials point out that this could be the initial stages of the fourth wave.
Ever since the two new Covid variants were detected in South Africa, both BA4 and BA5 have been replacing the existing variant of coronavirus (BA2) that was circulating in South Africa, the United States and Europe. There is a possibility that India could see a similar trend, health officials here said.
While the Covid positivity rate is expected to rise, hospitalisations and levels of severity could remain under control, senior doctors said. “There are clear signs of gradual increase in daily Covid infections in several States, including Telangana. However, despite the rise in cases, probably there will not be many hospitalisations. Gandhi Hospital, at the moment, has not received a single critical patient needing oxygen support, despite the rise in infections in the past few days,” Superintendent, Gandhi Hospital, Dr M Raja Rao, said.
At present, the only way to avoid getting infected was to follow extensive use of masks in public areas and physical distancing, he said. “Using masks and maintaining physical distancing are the only two ways to avoid infection because there have been instances in many countries where we have seen re-infections among vaccinated individuals and those who have acquired natural immunity,” he further said.
The BA4- and BA5-driven surge in Covid infections across Europe and United States has indicated that despite the rise in infections, hospitalisations and severe cases needing ICU care will be minimal. People visiting public spaces in Hyderabad must make sure that they wear masks and those who are eligible must get themselves a booster dose of the Covid vaccine, health officials advised.
