'No chance of fourth COVID wave': TS govt assures people despite uptick in cases

Hyderabad: Health department has ruled out the fourth wave of the pandemic even though the cases and positivity rate have witnessed a spike in Telangana in the last three days. Telangana and Hyderabad saw another day of a sharp uptick in COVID­19 cases with 155 fresh cases, including 142 from the GHMC area, Rangareddy, Sangareddy, and Malkajgiri­Medchal. The active cases reached 907 on Friday. The positivity rate on Friday was 0.94 percent.

According to Health Department, on June 1, the state reported only 75 cases with a positivity rate of 0.61 percent. The cases in the state have started to see a surge from June 7 when the state reported 119 infections with a 0.91 percent positivity rate. On Thursday, the state reported 122 cases with a positivity rate of 0.99 percent.

Telangana Director of Public Health(DPH) Dr. G Srinivas Rao ruled out the possibility of the fourth wave. "We have seen eight cases of the BA 4 variant and five cases of the BA 5 variant in the past few weeks. These are sub-variants of Omicron. More than 60 percent of cases being reported in the state are BA 2 sub-variant of Omicron. Since the majority of the population has developed hybrid immunity due to Omicron wave and vaccination coverage, we do not see a threat as of now," said Dr. Rao. He said the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the Omicron are expected to drive up the daily Covid infections in Telangana and other states for the next four to six weeks. "Despite the surge, people need not panic, as hospitalizations and disease severity are negligible. Since the daily infections are rising, people at an individual level must ensure they wear masks in public spaces and get vaccinated just to avoid spreading or getting infected," said DPH.

Stating that Telangana had never withdrawn its mask mandate, he advised people to follow Covid-appropriate behavior in public and get booster doses of vaccines without delay.

Seasonal Disease Outbreak

The Director of Public Health on Friday asked the public to be wary of a possible dengue outbreak, especially in greater Hyderabad. He said 158 cases of dengue had been recorded in Greater Hyderabad this year. Over 100 cases of them were reported in April and May. Of the total cases, around 103 have been reported to government hospitals and 55 to private hospitals. "The symptoms of Omicron are different when compared to common cold or influenza. The common cold symptoms will be visible in a day or two but symptoms for Covid will take at least three to five days to occur. Unlike cold, in Omicron, symptoms like headache, body pains, dry cough, fever, loss of taste and smell will be intense but they will subside quickly in 3 to 5 days," DPH said.