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Covid cases in Ghaziabad doubled in 13 days, officials say district may slip back into Red zone
With Ghaziabad witnessing a spurt of cases, the health department officials are worried that the district might slip back into the Red zone again.
With Ghaziabad witnessing a spurt of cases, the health department officials are worried that the district might slip back into the Red zone again.
Ghaziabad on Thursday recorded four new Covid-19 cases taking the district’s total tally to 120. Overall, there has been an addition of more than 50 cases in six days — between May 1 to May 6.
On May 1, the Ghaziabad district had been moved from Red zone to Orange zone, according to the classification issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
The first case was reported in Ghaziabad on March 5 and the tally rose to 25 on April 8 in a span of about 34 days. The next 25 cases were reported by April 22, in a span of 14 days, taking the district’s total to 50. The number of samples taken for testing then stood at 1,923.
However, the number of cases more than doubled by May 5, with a total of 104 cases being reported till the evening of that day (May 5). The last set of 50 patients turned positive within a span of about 13 days. The number of samples taken up for testing during that period stood at 3,573.
“With the increase in number of cases, the classification of the district is likely to be affected and it is likely that Ghaziabad slips back into the Red zone. The ranking is dynamic and can change as per number of cases and other factors. I is highly unlikely that Ghaziabad will be able to move to the Green zone (districts having no cases in 21 days) any time soon,” said Dr AK Paliwal, state program manager from National Health Mission (UP) and nodal officer for Ghaziabad district.
He added that more cases were coming to light as the number of testing had increased. Around 100-125 people were being tested daily now.
In case the district goes into the Red zone again, the relaxations given under lockdown 3.0 may have to be rolled back. The district administration — under the relaxations provided — has directed for opening up of standalone shops, liquor shops, plying of cabs, industrial and construction activities, among others, in order to jump start the economy.
“With the restrictions eased, people think that the threat from Covid-19 is over. But the threat remains and the virus is here to stay. It may take the form of an endemic again. The trend of positive cases is likely to increase further. It is about how we are able to contain it. It is in this anticipation that the state officials have asked districts to increase number of quarantine and Covid hospital beds,” Paliwal added.
In their recent communications, the state officials had asked for an increase of about 52000 Covid beds and about 15,000-20,000 quarantine beds in each district to meet any contingency.
The total number of samples taken for testing till May 6 stood at 3,737.
“The cases are increasing at a fast pace in Ghaziabad and has affected areas like Khoda, Vaishali, Vijay Nagar and Indirapuram. Around 25% of the cases are due to medically acquired infection. With the increased number of cases, there is a likelihood that Ghaziabad may again fall into the Red zone,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer.
According to the Union health ministry’s classification, there are about 130 Red, 284 Orange and 319 Green zones across the country. The state of UP has 19 Red, 36 Orange and 20 green zones.
The Red zones are areas with maximum number of Covid-19 cases. The government takes into account total number of active cases and case doubling rate, among others, before declaring an area as a Red zone.
Places with no cases or where no case has been reported in 21 days are categorised as Green zones, while the areas not in Red or Green category are termed as Orange zones.
