Health official:3rd wave of COVID-19 appears to have ended in Telangana

Senior health officials of Telangana stated on Tuesday that the third wave have come to an end in the state.

Hyderabad: The third wave of Covid-19 triggered by the Omicron variant appears to have come to an end in Telangana, a senior health official said on Tuesday, even as he stressed Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination.

"In the third wave, cases started rising from December 28, 2021. We have seen the peak on January 28. We are witnessing a decline in the number of cases since then," state Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao told reporters here. About 70 per cent of patients in Telangana are infected by BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron, he said, adding that the third and fourth waves of the pandemic that began in various countries across the world due to Omicron are on the wane and the number of daily cases within the country is less than one lakh for the last two days. The positivity rate is less than five per cent, he further added.

"In our state also, we have seen only 1,300 cases being reported yesterday. Our positivity rate was below two per cent. Our hospital bed occupancy is only four-cent," he said. Of the four per cent bed occupancy, only two per cent of patients are from Telangana and the other two per cent belong to other states who are taking treatment in Hyderabad, he added. "If we look at these numbers and figures, we can say that the third wave which was triggered by Omicron has come to an end in Telangana," the health official stated.

The peak of the third wave in Telangana was seen on January 25 when 4,559 cases were reported. The state has effectively dealt with the three waves under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Director said. Vaccination has proved to be a major weapon in facing the third wave in the country and in Telangana as well, Srinivasa Rao said. Noting that the virus threat is not over yet, he emphasised following Covid-appropriate behaviour and taking vaccines. Vaccination has been found to have reduced severe illness and hospitalisation, he said.

Observing that this is the time to put economic activity, either family-related or as a society, back on track, he said Information Technology and other sectors can open up. No restrictions are in place in the state at present, he said.