Rural areas hit by Covid-19, positivity rate remained over 21% in April

The second wave of Covid-19 has hit rural areas too, officials of the district health department said, with the test positivity rate (proportion of positives out of the samples tested) reaching 21

The second wave of Covid-19 has hit rural areas too, officials of the district health department said, with the test positivity rate (proportion of positives out of the samples tested) reaching 21.8% in April, as per the department’s data. Seven high-risk areas have also been identified, where mass surveillance by conducting door-to-door rapid antigen tests started from May 8.

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“The second Covid-19 wave has penetrated rural areas of the district. Through aggressive and timely testing, we are trying to control the transmission. At least 138 teams have been formed who will do antigen testing in seven rural areas where test positivity rate has been high,” said Yash Garg, deputy commissioner.

The worst-affected rural blocks of the district are under Sohna and Pataudi, said officials, pointing to an increase in cases in Bhondsi, Palra, Kasan, Bhangrola, Bhangrola, Badshahpur and Farrukhnagar.

The health department data shows that in April, the test positivity rate was 16.6% in Bhorakalan, 19.3% in Bhondsi, 17.7% in Farrukhnagar and 14% in Mandpura. Kasan primary health centre (PHC) in Pataudi and Palra PHC in Sohna showed the highest positivity rate, of almost 21%, officials said.

These high-risk areas are inching closer to a positivity rate of almost 26% that is reported in large outbreak regions of the city. Gauging the seriousness of the matter, antigen testing started in rural areas on May 8.

Of 2,194 rapid antigen tests administered on May 8, at least 33 tested positive while on May 9, at least 25 people were confirmed positive for Covid-19 out of the 1,169 who were tested. Antigen test delivers results within 15-20 minutes but has lower specificity to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus despite people exhibiting symptoms

According to health officials, people in rural areas do not come forward for testing compared to those in urban areas. “Therefore, antigen testing is one of the ways to control the spread before it creates a crisis-like situation in the coming time. Most of these areas have a mix of urban and rural populations, leading to faster transmission of coronavirus. Many people commute every day to the city for work or other tasks. All these factors have led to the Covid-19 spike in rural areas,” said Dr Jai Prakash, district surveillance officer.

In May, at least 1,392 new infections have been confirmed in Badshahpur, 1,552 in Bhangrola, 305 in Kasan, 374 in Farrukhnagar and 281 in Bhorakalan. On the other hand, over 5,521 cases have been reported from urban areas of the new Gurugram under Tigra urban primary health centre until May 9. Likewise, in areas under Chanderlok UPHC, which covers Sushant Lok and adjoining societies, about 4,832 cases have been reported this month, whereas 2,970 cases have been reported in Wazirabad and Sector 56 in nine days of the month, said officials.

On Monday, 2,794 cases were reported in the district, taking the total count of active cases to 33,185. As many as 12 deaths were also reported, taking the toll to 599.