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Half of all active cases in Ambala from rural areas
The district has added nearly 1,392 fresh cases to its tally in the last three days, out of which 747 cases were from the rural areas
The second wave of Covid-19 in Ambala has spread its footprints to the countryside with more than 50% of the total active cases being reported from the rural areas.
On Monday, chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal during an online event said that this time, the virus spread was not confined to urban areas and was hitting rural belts unprecedentedly.
As per the data provided by the health department, the district has added nearly 1,392 fresh cases to its tally in the last three days, out of which 747 cases were from the rural areas. The active caseload stood at 3,892 as on Monday.
District epidemiologist Dr Sunil Hari said that unlike the first wave, till February this year, the ratio of urban and rural contribution to the active caseload was roughly 63:37. But the data on active cases from the last 15 days painted a grim picture, he added.
“As per our weekly analysis done on Monday, the ratio is now 50:50, which shows that the virus has largely entered rural areas in this second wave. Other factors like sex-wise distribution show that males and females are contracting the virus equally unlike earlier,” the doctor said.
Out of the seven zones from where the department collects data, five are in rural areas and two are in urban areas. Among the rural areas, the worst-affected is Chourmastpur that caters to almost 3 lakh population in the rural and peri-urban areas of Ambala City.
‘Villagers from interiors also reporting symptoms’
The senior medical officer at the Chourmastpur community health centre, Dr Ashish, said, “Most of the cases are being reported from peri-urban areas like Durga Nagar, Majri and Jandli, but now villagers from interiors are also reporting symptoms. Those testing positive with mild or moderate symptoms are being home-isolated, but the serious ones have to be referred to the civil hospital.”
The district administration also earmarked five more macro containment zones on May 9—Babyal, Boh, Saha, Kala Amb and Adhoya—all villages. Dr Hari is of the opinion that all these areas have a larger population density and hence less awareness of hygiene.
“Nearly 487 residents of these villagers were tested door-to-door with rapid antigen tests in two days and 68 were found to be positive. According to this, the positivity rate is roughly 15% that is lower than our current district rate of 17-18%,” he said.
Residents ‘scared’ of vaccination
The sarpanch of Adhoya village in Barara block, Bunty, claimed that the situation in his village was under control, but residents were “scared” of vaccination.
“Door-to-door sampling is underway and a few must be infected, but there is no panic as such. However, most of the villagers are still afraid of side-effects after the vaccine. Those who get fever after the shot mistake it for infection and then their peers are afraid to get a shot,” he added.
On Tuesday, three out of nine fatalities, including a 24-year-old male on O2 support, were reported from these zones. Officials of the district administration also checked arrangements in a few of them and assured the residents of every facility.
