The surge in COVID cases in Telangana for the last three days has caught everyone’s attention and has become a cause of concern. “The Omicron variant is behind this huge spike in cases,” said Director of Public Health Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao. He said that the variant was now in the community.
However, he was not clear whether community transmission has begun. “When cases are surging, something is happening,” said Dr. Srinivasa Rao at a press conference in the city on Thursday. He did not elaborate on what is that ‘something’.
The daily caseload on Tuesday and Wednesday were 1,052 and 1,520, respectively. However, only 10 and zero Omicron cases were detected on the two days. Stating that 70% were Omicron cases, the senior Health official said that the variant does not matter any more.
No more airport screening?
“It cannot be stopped by testing 300-500 people at airports. According to our estimates, more than 70% cases are Omicron cases. We need not know whether it is Delta, Gamma or Omicron variant, as testing and treatment are the same. We cannot conduct genome sequencing on everybody. There is no need for it. We have to know if someone has COVID or not,” he said.
Also, the daily media bulletin mentioning Omicron cases was exempted from Thursday. He said that people with Omicron variant are recovering in five days. “Around 90% of them are asymptomatic. And the remaining 10% have mild fever, discomfort in throat, cough, head and body aches,” the DPH added.
People with even mild symptoms were urged to undergo tests at the nearest health centre. Asymptomatic people were asked not to get admitted to hospitals as COVID patients who need hospital care should not be deprived of beds.
Private hospitals were told not to give certain medicines like monoclonal antibodies to patients if it was not necessary, and to use discretion in treating patients. They were asked to follow treatment protocol implemented at government hospitals.