Hyderabad: In the last few days , Telangana has witnessed a 4 time rise in Covid-19 infections with the positivity rate increasing from 1 percent to 3.5 percent. In terms of transmissibility, compared to the Delta variant, the Omicron variant is 6 times faster and people of Telangana must ensure they take extreme precautions in the coming 4 weeks, Director of Public Health (DPH) Dr G Srinivasa Rao on Thursday said. The silver lining to the rise in Covid infections due to the Omicron variant is the fact that the severity is less and hospitalization across Telangana is still under control. At present, our estimates suggest that 70 percent of Covid infections in Telangana are due to the Omicron variant. The Delta variant, however, continues to remain active in some pockets and people should be very cautious. They must ensure to get tested immediately if they have symptoms and isolate themselves for 7 days if they test positive, DPH said. The third wave driven by Omicron will peak by the end of January in Telangana and by the middle of February it is expected to fade away. People of Telangana must wear masks and avoid gatherings at any cost in the coming weeks, DPH said.