Telangana Govt rules out Covid 4th wave

Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Thursday ruled out the possibility of fourth wave as the new variant may not have the severity and end up like a normal flu. However, people have been advised to follow Covid safety protocols like wearing masks while in the group and taking vaccination.

The Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivas Rao said that there are reasons for saying that there would be no fourth wave of Covid. The cases may rise during the months of May and June but the intensity of the virus will not be severe as it would be like a normal flu.

"We are going towards an endemic stage. The virus has chances of getting like a normal flu. Two cases of the XE variant were reported, one each in Delhi and Maharashtra. The symptoms and severity of these variants was found to be minor.

People need to be cautious and should wear masks while moving out in groups and take vaccination including booster doses," said Srinivas Rao. He said that India had crossed the stage of the virus which countries like China and South Africa were facing now. The director said that there was no need to impose new restrictions. Replying to a question, he said that there were reasons for saying that there will be no fourth wave. According to a sero-survey conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) between January 4 and February 2 on 14,179 individuals, antibodies were seen in 92.10 per cent of them. Among the health care workers 93.1 per cent of them had developed antibodies. Now the susceptible population was just seven per cent.

The susceptible population means those who are not infected till now and those who are not vaccinated till now. Telangana has a very less susceptible population, he added. He asked the companies to operate 100 per cent work from office since the livelihood of many was dependent on this. The director asked people to be cautious since it was marriage and vacation time and wanted them to get the booster doses whenever the government takes up the initiative. He said that the government completed first dose up to 106 per cent, second dose also reached 100 per cent. This is the reason the State could come out of the third wave with low mortality. The vaccination for children between 12 and 17 was going on and the first dose was completed by 80 per cent.

The government is awaiting the Centre's reply on the administration of booster dose for the age group of 18 to 50 years. The director said that the R-value of Telangana was at 0.5 per cent. If the R- value is more than 1 per cent, it means the virus is transmitting, he said.