2,401 new Covid-19 cases take total tally past 80K

The total count of Covid-19 cases in the district crossed 80,000 on Sunday, with 2,401 new infections reported on the day, according to the health department data

The total count of Covid-19 cases in the district crossed 80,000 on Sunday, with 2,401 new infections reported on the day, according to the health department data. Officials said that the positivity case spiked to 14% on the day, surging from around 10% reported over the last week, which is a cause for concern as it indicates a spread of the virus.

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Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram, said that they have ramped up testing and vaccine outreach has also been expanded. While 3,000 tests were conducted on average in the first two weeks of March, the department collected 11,278 samples on Sunday.

“We have issued directions to private hospitals to admit only those patients who are serious and require hospitalisation. Also, they must upload the latest data on the availability of beds. Government teams also conducted surprise inspections at private hospitals to check the status of beds to ensure easy access to patients,” said Yadav.

Due to the continuous surge in cases, the district administration directed officials of government departments to hold meeting through videoconference, instead of physical ones, and residents to fix appointments through the Saral video application to discuss their issues with officials concerned.

The 2,401 new infections took the total number of cases to 81,725. As per the details shared by the health department, two Covid-related deaths were also reported on the day, taking the total number of deaths due to the virus to 378. The fatality rate in the city stands at 0.4%.

On Saturday, Gurugram recorded 2,549 cases, the highest single-day spike reported in the city since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Health officials said that one of the reasons for the high number of daily cases is that the latest Covid strain is infectious.

On Sunday, the health department noted that 894 patients also recovered on the day, taking the total recoveries to 69,151. However, due to the rising number of cases, the rate of recovery has gone down from 90-99% and stands at 84% at present.

The health department on Sunday also vaccinated 3,172 eligible beneficiaries at 60 session sites, including private and public hospitals. Till date, the department has vaccinated 310,000 people in the city.

Dr Yadav said that while they working hard to expand vaccination among the eligible population, the low level of vaccination at private hospitals has remained a matter of concern. “To resolve this issue, the health department will ramp up vaccination outreach at sub-centres and also maximise the use of vaccine vans to hasten this effort,” said Yadav.

Earlier in the day, the Gurugram district administration issued an order asking government employees and the general public to hold meetings through videoconferencing in view of the rising Covid-19.cases.