Festivities sans Covid-19 rules will lead to rise in cases

CALLING THE Delta variant of the Coronavirus “deadly and highly infectious,” Dr Srinivasa Rao said there is no cure for Covid-19 as of now.

People not following

Covid-19 safety protocols during the celebration of Bakrid on Wednesday, and the month-long Bonalu festival, could lay waste all the hard work put in by health workers in containing the second wave of Covid-19, health officials have warned.

“If people do not wear masks, and do not maintain distance from one another, we could see a surge of cases. No God of Goddess wants people to fall sick, or lose their lives. Everyone should remember this,” Director of Public Health D G. Srinivasa Rao told reporters on Tuesday.

“We are seeing nearly 40 per cent fall in mask compliance. People have set aside responsibility for their own safety. Despite fines being imposed, there is no change in the attitude of the public. The third wave can happen and it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent this from occurring,” he said.

Calling the Delta variant of the Coronavirus “deadly and highly infectious,” Dr Srinivasa Rao said there is no cure for

Covid-19 as of now. “We can expect it to be around for at least another year or a year-and-a-half. The health staff, as well as the police are very tired. They need relief and that can come only if people follow safety norms,” he said.

Director of Medical Education Dr K. Ramesh Reddy said that while

Covid-19 in the state was under control, the second wave was being prolonged, something that could be seen from the nearly static number of people admitted in the hospitals. “The bed occupancy in hospitals is nearly the same over the past 25 days, it should be going down but it is not. This shows that the disease is still very much there,” he said.

While assuring that the government was fully prepared for the third wave or a surge in cases, along with providing for possible spike in pediatric Covid-19 cases, Dr Ramesh Reddy said “70 to

80 per cent of transmission can be stopped by people wearing masks.“

From the way Covid-19 is behaving currently in the population in Telangana, it can be expected that the second wave of the disease will take another two to three months to subside, but only if people strictly follow all safety precautions.

Fresh cases: 657; Deaths:

2; Tests: 1,04,478; Active cases: 9,787; Total cases:

6,38,030; Toll: 3,766

Most new cases: GHMC (Hyderabad) 74; Khammam 58; Karimnagar, Peddapalli

45.

Fewest new cases: Adilabad, Narayanpet 2; Nirmal, Vikarabad 3; JGadwal, Kamareddy, KBAsifabad, Wanaparthy 4.