Rural districts in TS witness surge in Covid cases as tests increase

Hyderabad: With the rural districts in Telangana witnessing a surge in COVID cases, the Coronavirus hotspot seems to be shifting from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Rangareddy to the interiors areas of Telangana.

In the last week, Telangana registered 18,301 COVID cases. The GHMC still contributes to a maximum number of cases but districts like

Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Khammam recorded a rise in cases. Last week, Nalgonda recorded 973 new COVID cases while Karimnagar has seen 953 new COVID cases and Khammam recorded 929 fresh COVID cases.

Last month, the director of public health, G. Srinivas Rao, said that there will be an increase in COVID cases in the rural districts of Telangana. With the testing facilities in various districts of Telangana being ramped up through Rapid Antigen Tests at the PHCs, the number of fresh cases is increasing.

Nalgonda has 45 testing facilities while Karimnagar has 35 testing facilities and Khammam has 35 testing facilities. Most of the COVID testing centres are at PHCs and CHCs.

“There will be a rise in the COVID cases in the districts because continuous testing will help in the identification of cases and checking the spread of the virus. The number of cases is likely to drop by the end of September,” said G. Srinivas Rao.

Officials said that currently, the prevalence of Covid-19 in tribal areas of Telangana is less.

Death toll in Telangana crossed 800 on Friday. On August 28, nine new deaths were reported.

The fatality rate in the state is 0.67 per cent, which is less than the national average of 1.81 per cent.

Telangana reported 2,751 new COVID cases on Friday taking the tally to 1,20,166 in the state.