Covid-19 in Gurugram: Positivity rate dips below 20% after five-week surge

At the district level, the total tally of active cases reached 30,352, of whom 2,292 are currently admitted to hospitals, while 27,981 are in home isolation.

The district on Thursday reported 2,159 new Covid-19 cases that took the test positivity rate (proportion of positives out of the sample tested) below 20% after almost a month in the district, according to the health department data.

A man being tested for Covid-19 at the Polyclinic in Sector 31 in Gurugram on May 11, 2021. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Even as the active case count continues to remain below 3,000 over the past few days, the health department and hospitals confirmed 17 Covid-19 deaths, the highest toll in a day at the district level that took the total toll to 638.

The dip comes at a time when the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT–PCR) test has declined in the last two days, compared to the number of tests administered on April 16, when the positivity rate was almost 19%. Officials and experts claimed that the lockdown has led to the declining positivity rate.

According to the district health bulletin, in the last two days, over 6,000 RT-PCR tests were administered along with 4,500 rapid antigen tests and on Thursday, the positivity rate reached nearly 19.5%. At the state level too, the positivity rate decreased to 32.5%, which is still the fifth-highest in the country.

At the district level, the total tally of active cases reached 30,352, of whom 2,292 are currently admitted to hospitals, while 27,981 are in home isolation.

According to health department officials, the impact of the surge is seen on deaths, which, they said often increase a few days after the peak. “The surge in deaths is expected as the district has seen a spike in new infections in the last few weeks. Although cases are stabilised now, the impact of surge can be seen on deaths. It fluctuates between one and two per cent of the currently active cases,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer.

At 5,024, the district reported the highest number of cases on April 29, after which an ongoing night curfew was extended to a total lockdown. Currently, the lockdown, which is labelled a Mahamari Alert, Surakhshit Haryana by the state government, is going to last at least till May 17 to control the transmission of infection.

Containment zones

To control the surge, at least 165 containment zones under 27 urban primary health centres have also been formed. It has declined from 176 zones created in the last week of April, as cases have dipped. Currently, the maximum number of containment zones are under the Tigra urban primary health centre (UPHC), which covers sectors 42 to 57, including Golf Course Road.

According to the containment zone order issued by the district administration, there are at least 19 containment zones under Chanderlok UPHC, covering Sushant Lok, 15 under Patel Nagar, 14 in Nathupur, which covers DLF Phase-3, and nine each in Badhshahpur and Chauma.

In densely populated areas of Firoj Gandhi Colony, Kasan and Wazirabad have seven containment zones each, while there are six zones each in Rajiv Nagar, Bhangrola and Fazilpur.