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In a massive jump, Telangana on Tuesday, January 4, reported 1,052 new COVID-19 cases, more than double that was recorded on Monday, taking the tally to 6.84 lakh, while the death toll rose to 4,033 with two more fatalities. The state also reported 10 new cases of the Omicron, pushing the tally to 94. However, 37 people recovered from the new strain. The state had recorded 482 new cases on Monday, January 3. It was on June 26 last year that the state had registered over 1,000 new cases in a single day.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of fresh cases with 659, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri district (116) and Rangareddy (109), the bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today. It said 240 people recovered from the infection on Tuesday. The cumulative number of recoveries till date was 6.75 lakh. The number of active cases was 4,858, the bulletin said.
It said nearly 43,000 samples were tested on Tuesday and the total number examined till date was over 2.98 crore. The samples tested per million population were over eight lakh.
The surge in cases was reported just a day after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday said that holidays will be declared at all educational institutions in the state from January 8 to 16. At a meeting with ministers and officials on the rising COVID-19 cases in Telangana, KCR said beds, oxygen-supported beds, medicines and testing kits be procured as required, according to an official release.
The Chief Minister appealed to the people not to panic over the Omicron variant but be precautious and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. Health officials informed KCRthat a lockdown is not necessary at present according to the Union government’s guidelines. He was told that gatherings should be avoided and precautions should be taken without fail, the release said.