The third wave of COVID-19 has come to an end in Telangana. This announcement was made on Tuesday by Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao, who added that the wave lasted for around 45 days.
Though the infections are on the decline, according to data provided by the Health department, the daily case burden is still above 1,000. On Monday, the State recorded 1,380 cases. The senior official estimated that the daily caseload will drop to 100 in a week.
Currently, most people who are testing positive for coronavirus are complaining of fever, cough, severe headache, body ache and chills. Overwhelming fatigue post recovery and trouble with concentration levels have also been observed.
Hospitalisation rate
Hospitalisation of people with COVID has been low during this wave. The infection is restricted to upper respiratory tract. Lungs were not affected in majority of the cases, unlike during the second wave when people had to be hospitalised for oxygen or ICU support.
The number of COVID patients in ICUs had crossed 4,100 at the peak of the second wave last year. Even at the peak of the third wave, the number stayed below 900. It is gradually declining. On Monday, 678 patients were in the ICUs. The positivity rate has dropped to around 2%.
Dr Srinivasa Rao said COVID vaccination and precautions helped bring about an early end to the wave. The Omicron variant, though highly infectious, has been mild. Around 70% of the cases in the State were of BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron. He has urged people to take vaccine shots if they are eligible.
The fever survey, too, was cited as a reason for containing the wave. Staff from Health, Municipality and other departments went door to door and distributed home isolation kits to people who tested positive, or had symptoms of the infection.
The fear of the third wave have arisen when news about the detection of Omicron variant in the State was reported in December last year. The senior official said the cases started to surge from December 20. The daily load started increasing by 100 % to 150% from January 3 and the highest of 4,559 infections were recorded on January 25.
But what would be the situation here on? He estimated that there would no new variant in the next few months as a majority of people were exposed to the virus, and vaccination numbers were high too. Quoting epidemiologists, he said that COVID could turn into flu.