Daily spike nears 5,000, zero ICU beds available

The district on Tuesday reported 4,475 new Covid-19 cases, taking active case count to 37,708

The district on Tuesday reported 4,475 new Covid-19 cases, taking active case count to 37,708. The death toll stood at 522, at least 11 deaths on Tuesday. At present, Covid-19 cases have been doubling every 34 days, according to government data.

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“Cases will continue to spike, which directly impacts the doubling rate of cases. With increased testing, we are trying to identify new cases and control the surge,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

The rapid surge in Covid-19 is also overwhelming the health infrastructure, with no beds with oxygen support, ventilators and intensive care available, according to the Gurugram Covid Combat Companion (GC3) portal.

At present, 2,447 people are undergoing treatment at 43 Covid-19 hospitals in the district.

“The consequence of high testing numbers is that Gurugram’s positivity rate has been high, compared to other districts,” Yadav said.

As per the health department data, the test positivity rate, the proportion of positives out of total samples tested, has also increased to 33%, compared to the 10% reported in the second week of April, when the daily case count began escalating. The positivity rate of the state remains at 7%.

To augment the health infrastructure, private companies will set up 700 beds, as reported by HT earlier. A city-based firm, Mankind Pharma Limited, on Tuesday, set up a 70-bed temporary Covid isolation ward with oxygen support at Civil Lines.

Besides hospitalised patients, at least 192 mild to moderately ill patients are in isolation at district Covid care centres, while 35, 069 are in home isolation.