Covid cases hit new high, active cases past 7,000

The district on Wednesday reported 1,151 new Covid-19 cases, its highest single-day spike so far this year, and one Covid-related death, taking the active cases past the 7,000 mark, as per the district health department data

The district on Wednesday reported 1,151 new Covid-19 cases, its highest single-day spike so far this year, and one Covid-related death, taking the active cases past the 7,000 mark, as per the district health department data.

HT Image

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, said that to contain the infection spread, they increased testing, expanded vaccine outreach and also increased the number of containment zones. “On average 10,000 tests are being conducted daily to identify and contain the local spread. Vaccinations are being taken to doorsteps of residents, with two vaccination buses having been introduced for this purpose,” said Yadav, adding that health teams are working to bring down the positivity rate, which is at 10% at present, to lower than 5%.

On Tuesday, the district recorded 998 cases but the Covid-19 infections breached the 1,000 mark again on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 73,422. There has been a surge in Covid-19 cases in the city since March 15 and this is the third time this year that cases have breached the 1,000 mark in a day, all over the past week, said health officials.

With the recent spike in infections, the total active cases in the district stood at 7,030, but a majority of the patients, 6,657, are in home isolation, as per the health department data. Sixty Covid-positive persons were also sent to institutional quarantine on Wednesday, as they were unable to isolate themselves at their residences. Officials said that the infections reduced during the winter months of December, January and February, following which it started spiking from mid-March.

According to the health department data, 10,007 samples were collected for testing on Wednesday, taking the total number of samples tested to 1,041,182.

As many as 17,757 people in the prioritised age groups were also vaccinated at 220 session sites, including private and government facilities.

Dr Yadav said that 292,000 beneficiaries have been vaccinated in the district of the total eligible population of 428,000 people. “We have achieved the target given under tika utsav, which was 64,000, as we managed to vaccinate 64,102 beneficiaries between April 11 and April 14,” he said, adding that efforts to increase the vaccination outreach will be intensified further.