The district witnessed a 100% increase in coronavirus cases on Wednesday, even as three foreign returnees tested positive for the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.
Those who tested positive for the ‘variant of concern’ include a 17-year-old Aggar Nagar resident, who had returned from France on December 27, and two Raikot residents, aged 35 and 38, who had returned from the United Kingdom on December 28.
Civil surgeon Dr SP Singh said the foreign returnees had landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, where they were tested for Covid. The three patients were asked to isolate themselves after they tested positive, and their reports were sent for genome sequencing. “The patients’ condition is stable and they are exhibiting mild symptoms,” he said, adding that the contact tracing procedure had been initiated.
203 new infections, 8 micro-containment zones formed
As many as 203 people tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. Incidentally, the last time the district had logged as many cases was June 6 during the devastating second wave of the pandemic.
Among those tested positive were 32 contacts of patients, 87 flu-corner patients, 11 health workers, a police officer and three foreign travellers – two from the UK and one from Canada.
The new cases have taken the district’s Covid count to 88,247, of which 85,638 people have recovered so far. Now, the number of active cases in the district stands at 490, of which 468 people are under home isolation. Twenty patients are undergoing treatment at private hospitals, two have been admitted to government health facilities, while one patient is also on the ventilator.
{{/usCountry}}The new cases have taken the district’s Covid count to 88,247, of which 85,638 people have recovered so far. Now, the number of active cases in the district stands at 490, of which 468 people are under home isolation. Twenty patients are undergoing treatment at private hospitals, two have been admitted to government health facilities, while one patient is also on the ventilator.
{{/usCountry}}To grapple with the sudden spurt in cases, the health department has established eight micro containment zones – Baba Than Singh Chowk, Basant Vihar, Maya Nagar, Pakhowal Road, Madhopur, Shdhwan Bet and Aggar Nagar.
Salaries of NHM employee withheld
The salaries of 400 health workers, including National Health Mission (NHM) doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff, who have been protesting for over a month have been withheld. The NHM employees have been demanding regularisation of services.
The civil sugeon said the salaries were withheld on the orders of the authorities. The NHM employees’ protest had had crippled the health infrastructure of the district, particularly sampling and vaccination. Earlier, vaccination was carried out at around 50 to 80 centres’, but since the NHM employees went on strike, the number of centres have been reduced to 10 -15 which has caused winding queues at vaccination centres. Similarly, against the 7,000 to 10,000 samples being collected each day earlier, only 2,000 to 2,500 samples are collected in a day now.
Clash at vaccination counter, cops deployed
With people thronging vaccination counters, a scuffle took place at the civil surgeon office where people were seen jostling and hackling each other. After the scuffle broke out, vaccination was stopped, and the cops were called. Inoculation, then proceeded under the watchful eyes of the cops.
Meanwhile, 538 teenagers were vaccinated in the 15-18 age group at 15 centres in the district on Tuesday. Around, 1,228 minors have been vaccinated over the last three days.
Week at a glance
The new cases have taken the district’s Covid count to 88,247, of which 85,638 people have recovered.
Date Cases
January 4 103
January 3 56
January 2 40
January 1 37
December 31 18
December 29 11