City records 88 new Covid-19 cases — highest in two months

With 88 new cases of Covid-19 being reported in the past 24 hours, the city recorded its sharpest spike in the past two months

With 88 new cases of Covid-19 being reported in the past 24 hours, the city recorded its sharpest spike in the past two months. While the total caseload has reached 59,698, the number of active cases has reached 551 — up from 513 on Thursday.

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The district until December 2020 recorded more than 100 new infections a day. It declined to 88 new infections on January 8. But the number of active cases stood at 772. Due to the decline in daily new cases to roughly 30 every day, the active case count had declined to 372 by February 1. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, 74 cases were registered, thereby recording a two-month high.

Of all the active cases on Friday, 506 mild or asymptomatic cases are under home-isolation, while one mild case is under observation at the government Covid care centre. Another 43 are ‘moderate’ cases, who are displaying either symptoms of pneumonia or require oxygen support at secondary health care facilities, while one patient is currently receiving tertiary care at a dedicated Covid-19 hospital.

The district also witnessed 50 recoveries on Friday. Gurugram’s chief medical officer Dr Virender Yadav said that the health department was expecting a surge in mid-March. Yadav said that cases were rising since many people had let their guards down and were not adopting Covid-appropriate behaviour. “The economy is open. As such, people are back to their normal routine and travelling as before. People need to stay vigilant and adopt measures such as social distancing and the regular use of masks,” said Yadav. Laying emphasis on testing, he said, “If people are travelling or mingling at crowded places or feel that they might have come in contact with a Covid-19 carrier, they should get tested at the earliest. They need to isolate and quarantine if they suspect themselves of having contracted the virus.”

Yadav said that the health department had increased testing from 2,500 to 3,500 cases and will continue to take appropriate steps in accordance with the evolving situation. “We were expecting cases to rise in March. As the situation develops, we will take steps accordingly. We are conducting nearly 3,500 tests daily. If required, we will increase the testing further,” said Yadav.