While the Telangana government seems
adamant about not enforcing a new lockdown despite a substantial rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state, Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivas Rao today expressed concern over the pandemic situation yet again.
He warned the people of the state that the ongoing second wave was more serious than the first one that had rocked the state last year, and explained, "All the world has been shaken by the pandemic. Where around 30 to 50 lakh people had died after the outbreak of the Spanish flu, around 2.7 crore people have succumbed to Covid-19. We must understand the seriousness of the current pandemic situation."
"Telangana registered a total of 5,000 cases on Friday alone. It seems that the disease has been spreading through community transmission. About 20 people from Maharashtra came to Telangana recently and mingled with about 30 locals. After the interaction, 34 people contracted Covid-19. We have reason to believe that the 34 infected persons then infected another 433 people after that. This illustrates how the carelessness of a few can affect many people. I would urge the public to remain alert and avoid mingling in large groups. We must all keep ourselves safe as this will ensure the safety of those around us as well," Rao added.
The senior health official has spoken about the
need to urgently arrest the spread of the disease in Telangana, and has highlighted the fact that failure to do so will make the state "the next Maharashtra".