Ghaziabad health dept to conduct Covid tests ahead of festivities

The department will conduct survey for targeted groups, such as auto-rickshaw drivers, street vendors, staff of malls and sweets shops, among others, in order to find suspected cases of Covid infection

The Ghaziabad health department said on Saturday that it will conduct targeted Covid-19 testing of different groups ahead of the upcoming festive season. However, officials said that they are not expecting any major spike in Covid-19 cases during or after the festival season as the district has a good coverage of Covid vaccination, along with a high rate of seroprevalence.

A health worker administers a dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Ghantaghar Ramlila Maidan in Ghaziabad on Saturday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Dr RK Gupta, district surveillance officer, said that the department will conduct survey for targeted groups, such as auto-rickshaw drivers, street vendors, staff of malls and sweets shops, among others, in order to find out suspected cases of Covid infection.

“But it is unlikely that the mixing of people during the festival season will result in any high number of Covid cases. It is because we have been conducting Covid tests on daily basis and the positivity rate has considerably declined since July. Besides, our vaccination coverage is increasing day by day, and the rate of seroprevalence is also high in the district,” Dr Gupta said.

According to official records of the Ghaziabad health department, about 72% of the total 2,758,526 people eligible for Covid-19 vaccine have got their first dose.

So far as Covid-19 cases are concerned, the district has reported 55,669 Covid cases till October 23 and these include only three active cases which are in home isolation at present, the officials said. According to the health department’s data, till July 31, the district had total 55,609 cases which indicate that only 60 new cases were added during the period from August 1 to October 23.

According to the last seroprevalence survey conducted by the Uttar Pradesh government in July this year, about 80% people in Ghaziabad have developed antibodies against Covid-19, said an officer from the health department, wishing anonymity.

“This means that a major portion of the population has developed immunity against the infection. So, it is unlikely that mixing of population during festivals may lead to spike in Covid cases,” said the officer.

The records indicate that the overall positivity rate for Covid-19 cases is 3.24% since March last year, while the rate is just 0.01% this month till date, the lowest so far.

“With the high rate of seroprevalence, it is expected that there will be no third wave in near future. Further, the Covid vaccination coverage has also provided protection to senior citizens and other age groups. So, the chances of immediate spike during or after the festivals are slim,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).

“Although the situation is encouraging, it does not mean that people shun the use of face mask and other Covid protocols. The preventive measures must continue,” he added.

According to the Co-WIN portal figures on Saturday, the district has completed administration of 3,196,508 Covid-19 doses, which include 998,587 second doses.