HYDERABAD: The Covid-19 positivity rate in the state touched the lowest since the first wave at 0.78% on Sunday. This indicates that cases have reached a plateau.
However, experts say that it will take another six months for the majority of the population to get vaccinated and that people still need to restrain themselves from travelling, partying and other social activities for atleast one more year.
The positivity rate was 1.08% a month ago and has now come down to 0.78%. “The second wave has probably reached a plateau phase in Telangana. It is the lowest in the last one year. While it is a good sign, we need to maintain Covid-19 appropriate behaviour to ensure that the level continues to remain low,” said Dr Kiran Madala, in-charge, head of department of critical care at Nizamabad Medical College, adding that until 70% of the population is vaccinated, the threat of a devastating next wave will remain upon us.
Meanwhile, Telangana has so far vaccinated 1.23 crore people and as per official figures 1.74 crore population is yet to get the first dose. Only 45% of the eligible people have taken the first dose so far and only 10% have been completely vaccinated.
“Unvaccinated individuals have 1.57 times higher risk of contracting the infection compared to those who are partially vaccinated and 2.49 times than the fully vaccinated population,” found a latest study among healthcare workers by the Liver and Biliary Institute, Delhi. The findings of this study titled ‘Clinicogenomic analysis of breakthrough infections by SARS CoV2 variants after ChAdOx1 nCoV- 19 vaccination in healthcare workers’, were also confirmed in independent studies of vaccinated population by two corporate hospitals in the city.
