Covid positivity rate in Ghaziabad exceeds 1% in one week

The Covid-19 case positivity rate in Ghaziabad district has exceeded 1% during the last one week even as the health department is yet to achieve its testing target of 7,400 samples per day

The Covid-19 case positivity rate in Ghaziabad district has exceeded 1% during the last one week even as the health department is yet to achieve its testing target of 7,400 samples per day.

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Health department officials said that the low severity of the infection has led to a decline in the turnout for testing amid the upward tick in cases.

Official records indicate that the health department tested 30,918 samples during the seven-day period from June 15 to June 21, with a daily average testing of 4,416 samples. The district reported 364 fresh cases with a positivity rate of 1.18% during the last one week.

The positivity during the previous week starting from June 8 and ending on June14, with a daily average testing of 3,840 samples was 0.54%, while it was 0.31% during June 1 to June 7 with a daily average testing of 3,653 samples.

“There is a rise in fresh cases and the case positivity has also doubled in the past one week. We are conducting tests at 47 different centres but the turnout is low because of the low severity of the infection. This is why people are not coming forward to get themselves tested,” said Dr Rakesh Gupta, district surveillance officer.

“We have the resources and capability to conduct at least 9,000-10,000 daily tests. But the low turnout is a matter of concern,” Dr Gupta added.

Incidentally, the last time Ghaziabad district reported more than 1% positivity rate in a seven-day period was from April 27 to May 3.

According to official records, the district reported a total of 582 positive cases in the first three weeks of June.

The positivity rate in the month of June (till June 21) stands at 0.73% while the overall positivity is about 2.8% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The highest positivity this year was 9.96%, which was reported in January.

The district reported 55 fresh cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of active cases to 317.

“The major reason for the low turnout for testing is the less severity of the infection which is mostly restricted to the upper respiratory tract. As an internal protocol, many hospitals have made it a practice to conduct rapid antigen tests for patients. The less severity is also responsible for the low turnout for the booster dose,” said Dr VB Jindal, former president of Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Ghaziabad chapter.