No Covid Curbs As Third Wave Ended: Health Director

Health Director Dr M Srinivas Rao today said that as the coronavirus third wave was over in the state, there would be no more restrictions.

He also said that offices could work with 100% strength now, and that the IT companies could withdraw their work-from-home rules.

Speaking to media persons, Dr Srinivas said that the state had registered lower number of Covid cases due to all the measures taken to contain the virus spread.

He said that the third wave had seen its peak by January 23, and that the positivity rate had reached 5% then. But the cases and fatalities were coming down drastically now and the positivity rate was below 2%, he said, adding that vaccinated people faced less issues even if infected. Also, a fever survey was conducted recently followed by distribution of medical kits, which helped a lot, he claimed.

He however said that while there was no third wave of Covid in the state, the people should still remain cautious and follow Covid protocol. There was even now a need for people to wear masks, sanitise their hands and maintain social distance, he said.

Elaborating on the third wave of Covid, Dr Srinivas said that 2.8% of the people who did not get vaccinated and got infected were hospitalised. Also, the state had conducted Covid screening tests on 31 lakh people, and only 3,000 people were hospitalised in the third phase.

He added that the government had administered the Covid vaccines to five crore people, and that 82% of the population was fully vaccinated. 73% of the teenagers had received at least one dose, and 13% had received the second, he said.

About the upcoming Medaram jatara, the Health Director said that the government had made all the necessary arrangements for the jatara, and had set up special vaccination centres to administer vaccines to the devotees as also a 150-bed hospital.