Potential third wave?: COVID-19 cases to increase by 15 Jan, peak in February
The DPH further urged all people to wear masks for the next four-five weeks and get vaccinated at the earliest.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 5 Dec 2021 11:24 AM GMT
Hyderabad: In what could potentially be the third wave, COVID-19 cases are expected to increase by 15 January 2022 and might peak in February 2022, said G. Srinivas Rao, the Telangana director of public health on Sunday. He urged all people to get vaccinated and prepare to face the hike.
The DPH further urged all people to wear masks for the next four-five weeks and get vaccinated at the earliest. Mr. Rao said Telangana is prepared to fight the new COVID-19 variant. Around 30,000-40,000 tests are being done every day in the state, he said adding that random tests are proposed to discover more asymptomatic cases.
"Headache, body pains, tiredness, and low energy are possible symptoms of Omicron," Mr. Rao said. Government hospitals in the state are well equipped with beds and other facilities to handle new cases, he added.
No cases of the new variant Omicron were reported in Telangana till Sunday. The samples of nine international passengers who had tested positive at RGIA have been sent for genome sequencing. It takes three-six days for the genome sequencing to be completed, said Mr. Rao.
He said that the 963 international passengers who tested negative are in home isolation and have not developed any symptoms so far. He also said the state has already requested the Union health minister booster vaccine dose for frontline workers, vaccination for children, and also requested it to reduce the gap between the two doses of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, the number of Omicron cases in India rose to five after two more cases were detected in Gujarat and Maharashtra on 4 December and one case detected in New Delhi on 5 December. On Saturday, a 72-year-old man in Gujarat's Jamnagar city who returned from Zimbabwe and a 33-year-old man in Kalyan Dombivali in Maharashtra who returned from South Africa were confirmed to be infected with the Omicron variant. On Sunday, a Tanzania returnee who arrived in Delhi tested positive for Omicron.
The Union health ministry on Wednesday had confirmed two cases of Omicron variant in Karnataka.
