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Ghaziabad: Source of virus from random sampling difficult to ascertain, say health officials
Six samples, out of nearly 800 random ones collected from hotspots in the last fortnight, have tested positive for Covid-19, raising concerns among health workers
Six samples, out of nearly 800 random ones collected from hotspots in the last fortnight, have tested positive for Covid-19, raising concerns among health workers about tracing the source or contact of the virus.
Till Friday, Ghaziabad had recorded a total of 133 cases, which included about 29 cases that were linked to hospital acquired infection, officials said. They added that six cases emerged by random sampling from densely populated and low-economic class areas.
“About 700-800 random samples was collected from hotspot areas, where we have found six positive cases. The emergence of such cases is slightly worrying as the source of such infection is difficult to ascertain. We have found two such cases from Khoda, three from Islam Nagar and one from Jhandapur in Sahibabad. We cannot comment if these cases were due to community spread as such,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer of Ghaziabad.
“We are taking 30 to 40 random samples in different hotspot areas each day and trying to find out if there is any spread . The prime focus area for us now is Khoda ,where at least 15 people have tested positive. We have asked the administration to strictly enforce the lockdown and sealing in the locality,” he added.
In a rare instance in Ghaziabad, the officials said that no positive cases were found on Saturday and total number of cases stood at 133.
Till Saturday evening, the number of sampling done in Ghaziabad stood at 4,321 with reports of 573 still awaited. Across the state, the number of samples tested on Friday stood at 4,525.
Among the initial cases in Ghaziabad, people having travel history tested positive. Later, cases linked to a religious congregation in Nizamuddin area of Delhi emerged. A few cases were also traced back to Noida-based fire safety and security solutions company, Ceasefire.
“The latest cases which are coming in are medically acquired infection in which patients undergoing treatment or healthcare workers have tested positive. We have about 29 such cases where health care workers have tested positive so far. The two deaths which have resulted so far are due to comorbid conditions. There are several cases where we are yet to trace the source of infection and are awaiting reports,” he added.
The officials said that the source of infection of a 60-year-old woman (who died) from Pratap Vihar, Vijay Nagar is yet to be ascertained and test reports of her family members are yet to be received.
“The other case is of the additional regional manager from Aligarh and his four of his family members, who tested positive. A woman from Jhapdapur, who died in Delhi, also has five family members who tested positive on Friday. It has come to light that contacts of patients carrying the virus are often testing positive owing to families staying closely together and sharing bedrooms, utensils. So, it becomes vital that social distancing is maintained within the family as well,” CMO added.
The officials of Uttar Pradesh government said that the recovery rate of the state at present is about 43% which is higher than the national rate of about 30%.
“With the process of sampling and testing intensified, there is lot of stress on community surveillance as more migrant workers and people from foreign countries are being brought in. We are in the process of forming gram samitis in rural areas and mohalla samitis in urban areas, who will keep track of people coming from outside and will send them to home quarantine after medical examination,” said Amit Mohan Prasad, UP’s principal secretary (health).
According to officials, about 12,4791 people have been tested in the state with the help of government and private laboratories. The state at present has 449 hotspot areas with a population of 47.29 lakh people residing in about 8.34 lakh houses.
