Covid-19: Active cases fall below 100 in Gurugram

Fewer than 100 people in the district are currently battling Covid-19, according to the district health department data, with the active caseload dipping below the century mark for the first time in over a year. This is a big turnaround, said officials, as the district was devastated by the second wave of Covid-19 less than two months ago

Fewer than 100 people in the district are currently battling Covid-19, according to the district health department data, with the active caseload dipping below the century mark for the first time in over a year. This is a big turnaround, said officials, as the district was devastated by the second wave of Covid-19 less than two months ago.

According to Tuesday’s health bulletin, there are currently 95 active Covid-19 cases in the district. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

According to Tuesday’s health bulletin, there are currently 95 active Covid-19 cases in the district, which, as of May 6, was at a peak of 39,682 following a rapid surge in cases from March-end. As many as nine new cases of Covid-19 were detected on Tuesday.

Dr Jai Prakash, the district surveillance officer for Covid-19, said, “Active cases have finally dropped below 100, which is a landmark (going by the numbers) over the past year. Testing has been ongoing, with about 28-30 testing camps being organised in market areas, congested areas and at borders in Kapashera and Kherki Dhaula. Even if the cases are few, the teams are directed to collect samples to check clustering of infection in any pocket of the district.”

Officials said that Tuesday was the fourth consecutive day that the district recorded fewer than 10 infections in a day. Over the past week, the district added an average of nearly six cases per day, according to the government data.

The decline in cases comes after the district’s fight against Covid-19 for almost two months, in April and May, when over 100,000 contracted the infection and 455 succumbed to it. The surge led to a lack of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and ventilator beds in hospitals, even as medical facilities and residents in home isolation scrambled to get their oxygen supply.

Now, the state government has set a deadline of July 10 for the district administration to submit details of bed availability, ventilators and oxygen supply in the district. All private hospitals having a bed capacity of 50 and higher were also directed to set up oxygen plants before July 10.

Vij said that government institutions above the level of community health centres are also setting up oxygen plants. Apart from this, 40 oxygen plants will also be set up in the state by the Central government, as part of a nationwide plan announced earlier.

The chief medical officer for Gurugram, Dr Virender Yadav, said, “There are at least 28 hospitals in the district having more than 50 beds, of which only 15 hospitals have their own oxygen plant.”

During the peak of the second Covid-19 wave, the test positivity rate, the proportion of positives out of the sample tested, touched almost 39%. The positivity rate is a metric to gauge the prevalence of infection. The positivity rate has dropped considerably since the last week of May and is currently 0.1%.

On the other hand, almost 11 people died due to infection in the last six days, while 83 deaths were reported in June.