The recent spike in COVID cases in North India has triggered questions on possibility of another surge in cases in Telangana. People here are again worried over a possible fourth wave in the State and wondering as to when and how severe it would be.
However, citing results of the recent sero-surveillance done in the State, it has been estimated that around 93% of general population in Telangana have antibodies against coronavirus. Director of Public Health G. Srinivasa Rao averred that there won’t be a fourth COVID wave in the State.
Slight spike
However, he has cautioned people that there could be a slight increase in cases after six to eight weeks, which will not be of huge concern.
The sero-surveillance was conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in all districts from January 4 to February 2, this year. The study was taken up to estimate the SAR-COV-2 Sero-Prevalence among the population aged six years and above, and among Health Care Workers (HCW) too.
A total of 14,179 people were interviewed and their blood samples collected, including 3,415 HCWs. The sero-prevalence among HCWs turned out to be 93.1%.
No significant differentials were observed in gender, community, urban-rural, religion, education status, occupation, morbidity, and COVID-19 contact history.
The senior Health official said that cases increase in regions with susceptible population, which means those who were not infected yet, or unvaccinated.
“The NIN sero-surveillance states that 93% of general population have developed antibodies. So, our susceptible population is 7% who will be taken care of by the remaining 93% in terms of herd immunity,” said Dr. Srinivasa Rao while addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday.
