Telangana Could Be Country's New COVID Hotspot

Telangana seems to become the next hotspot in the country, with the highest growth rate of cases and high positivity rates.

Three factors — a high growth rate of cases, high positivity rate, and at least one large urban center that sees a significant concentration of cases — are common to Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi, the clear hotspots in the country so far, accounting for nearly 60% of all Covid-19 cases.

The data analyzed by HT from the 20 worst-hit states in the country on these 3-parameters to identify regions that are exhibiting signs that they may become the next Covid-19 hotspots. A handful of states come into focus — Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Assam, AP, and Odisha. Among them, Telangana and Karnataka stand out.

With 25,733 Covid-19 cases as of Tuesday, Telangana is the 6th worst hit state in the country after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, and UP.

In the past 2-weeks, the state has seen one of the fastest-growing outbreaks in the country. Telangana reported 1,219 new cases every day on average over the last 2 weeks; before that, this number was just 352.

With over 20000 Covid-19 cases and 1,419 deaths, Hyderabad has been the clear epicenter of the outbreak in the state. The city is responsible for 4 out of every 5 cases reported across Telangana. Nearly 70% of all cases in Hyderabad have been reported in just the last 2-weeks.