HYDERABAD: Though Telangana has been witnessing a few cases of Delta variant of Covid-19 since December last year, no Delta Plus cases have been reported in the State so far, according to Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao. Speaking to the media here on Thursday, Dr Srinivasa Rao said: “Telangana has been seeing Delta variant cases since December, 2020. It led to a rapid increase in cases during the second wave of Covid-19. But the Delta Plus variant, which has resulted in sharp rise in cases in States like Maharashtra and Kerala, has not been found in our State.”
Stating that the government has been sending samples to Hyderabad-based CCMB for assessment and to detect possible presence of such cases in the State, the DPH said: “The only solution to prevent or tackle such variants is immediate ramping up of vaccinations, use of face masks and social distancing.”
Meanwhile, Gandhi Hospital, the State’s nodal Covid-19 treating centre, has been witnessing stabilisation in daily cases, but has still not gone into a declining admissions stage. “Presently, we have about 400 Covid-19 cases and 300 odd mucormycosis cases. Even now, almost the same number of patients are getting admitted on daily basis. Until we see a decline in that aspect, things will not return to normal,” Hospital Superintendent Dr Raja Rao said.
VACCINATIONS, MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING
Stating that the government has been sending samples to Hyderabad-based CCMB for assessment and to detect possible presence of such cases in the State, the DPH said: “The only solution to prevent or tackle such variants is immediate ramping up of vaccinations, use of face masks and social distancing. So far, we have given 97 lakh vaccination doses. In the GHMC areas alone, 15 lakh people in high risk group have been vaccinated.”
1,088 new cases, 9 deaths
Telangana detected 1,088 new Covid-19 cases from a total of 1,19,466 test samples on Thursday. The day also witnessed nine Covid deaths and 1,511 recoveries. The active caseload in the State now stands at 16,030 cases. The State has so far recorded a total of 6,17,776 cases, of which 5,98,139 patients have recovered while 3,607 have succumbed to the virus. As on Thursday, the State’s recovery rate is at 96.82 per cent as per the media bulletin issued by the State government. The highest number of cases were recorded in the GHMC limits (137), followed by Khammam (86)