COVID-19 Spreading In Telugu States at Alarming Rate

Delhi: As the second wave of coronavirus continues to intensify across the country, COVID-19 positive cases are rapidly increasing in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Since the last week of March this year, the virus has spread rapidly across districts in the two states, official data reveals.

While both the state governments are ramping up testing across districts and looking forward for an aggressive vaccination drive to fight the spread of COVID-19, Andhra Pradesh government is facing a vaccine shortage.

As on Friday evening 8 PM, Telangana reported nearly 3,000 fresh COVID-19 cases and six deaths, pushing the toll to 1,752. Meanwhile in Andhra Pradesh, a five-month high of 2,765 fresh cases were reported and 11 people died in the 24 hours period ending 9 am on Friday Morning.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in last March, Andhra Pradesh reported a total of 9,18,597 positive cases and 7,297 deaths and Telangana registered 3,18,704 positive cases and cumulative deaths of 1,784. While the all India positivity rate of COVID-19 cases is at 5.14, the figure for Andhra Pradesh is 5.89 and Telangana 2.99, according to government data.

Covid Charts:

1. Daily New Covid Cases in Andhra Pradesh

2. Daily New Covid Cases in Telangana

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

As the above charts suggest, both the states are witnessing a sudden surge in the rise in daily cases, which indicates a resurgence of coronavirus.

In the wake of the rising infections, schools and colleges were closed again and several markets are choosing to impose self lockdown in Hyderabad even as the state’s Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in Assembly said that they will not impose another lockdown.

On April 9, an whooping 487 cases were reported in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by districts -- Medchal Malkajgiri (289) and Nizamabad (202). Several districts such as Nizamabad, Nirmal and Asifabad have already surpassed their daily peak of 2020. The state witnessed a substantial rise in daily cases especially in the last two weeks.

COVID-19 active caseload is also increasing on a daily basis in all the districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Chittoor, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Krishna and Nellore districts in Andhra Pradesh are witnessing a sudden rise in daily cases.

Vaccination Drive

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for 25 lakh vaccine doses amid shortage in the state ahead of the Tika Ustav announced by Modi. In a letter on Friday, the CM said: “We have drawn out an action plan to cover six lakh people including four lakh in rural and two lakh in urban areas per day, totaling to 24 lakh people in four days of the Tika Utsav. Currently, my state has only two lakh doses and another two lakh doses are expected to be received today. There is an urgent need for another 25 lakh doses, which if made available before April 11, the Tika Utsav can be grandly celebrated under your able leadership.”

Reportedly, Andhra Pradesh has just three lakh doses of the vaccine left while on an average 1.4 lakh people were being inoculated per day.

So far, Telangana has received over 25 lakh doses of Covid vaccines -- 4.50 lakh doses are Covaxin of Bharat Biotech and 20.5 lakh doses are Covishield vaccine of Serum Institute.

Stating that there is no current shortage of vaccine doses in Telangana, Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao said: “Overall, 16.5 lakh first and second doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in Telangana out of which 14.5 lakh are first doses while the remaining are second doses of Covid vaccine. We have nearly 8 lakh Covid vaccine doses in reserve and even if we administer one lakh vaccine doses per day, the stock will last us for at least eight days.”