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Virus spread ebbs in Haryana, less than 1,000 cases in a week
Chief secretary Vijai Vardhan, however, warned against complacency. Vardhan said he has advised health authorities to conduct special sampling drives in places with high-population density such as colleges, offices, shopping malls, etc
The steep decline in coronavirus infections in Haryana continued for the seventh successive week with the weekly infections staying below the 1,000-mark.
The last time the state registered less than 1,000 cases in a week was mid-January when the virus was on the wane. The state reported 980 cases last week (June 21-27) as compared to 1,557 the week before (June 14-20).
The virus curve has been flattening after 11 weeks of devastation when the contagion spread was at its peak in May. The state had registered a weekly six-digit infection tally and more than 2,000 deaths during the period.
There are now 1,593 active cases in the state and 698 patients are in home isolation. Seventeen districts have less than 100 active cases and nine have less than 50 active cases. Statistics show that only five districts - Hisar, Sirsa, Panipat, Gurugram and Bhiwani have more than 100 active cases.
Chief secretary Vijai Vardhan, however, warned against complacency. Vardhan said he has advised health authorities to conduct special sampling drives in places with high-population density such as colleges, offices, shopping malls and industrial establishments.
“We should not lower our guard. At least 50,000 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or rapid antigen tests (RAT) should be conducted every day,’’ the chief secretary said.
Despite the decline, the cumulative positivity rate for 15 districts continued to be in the critical category (more than 6%). Nuh is the only district with a positivity rate less than 2 %. The high cumulative positivity rate, officials said, was indicative of the virulent impact of the contagion during the second wave. “It will take many weeks of decline in infection to get the cumulative positivity rate in the desirable category,’’ said an official.
Statistics show that loss of lives due to the virus-induced illness has also come down with 139 fatalities being reported last weeks. The number of fatalities had shot up in May when 2,199 deaths were reported in the first two week. Hisar with over 1,000 deaths has the highest number of cumulative fatalities, followed by Gurugram (896), Faridabad (716), Bhiwani (578), Karnal (540), Panipat (536), Jind (511) and Ambala (508).
