Jan 12-18 witnesses highest positivity rate in Ghaziabad

The district has reported the highest weekly test positivity rate during January 12-18 since the first week of December last year when the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic started, according to an analysis of the official records shared by the Ghaziabad health department

The district has reported the highest weekly test positivity rate during January 12-18 since the first week of December last year when the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic started, according to an analysis of the official records shared by the Ghaziabad health department.

A health worker collects swab samples for Covid-19 test at the Combined District Hospital in Sanjay Nagar, Ghaziabad, on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali /HT)

The week of January 12-18 had a positivity rate of 15.62% with 69,396 tests yielding 10,843 positive cases, the data shows. The first week (1-7) of December witnessed a positivity rate of just 0.03% and the rate continued to increase in following weeks with the highest recorded during January 12-18.

The latest week of January 19-25 ended with lower positivity of 12.77% with 57,012 tests yielding 7,278 positive cases, according to the data.

Officials from the district health department said on Wednesday that they are witnessing a declining trend.

“During the previous week, the positivity remained high but it has started to decline now. We are witnessing a declining trend, but it is erratic as cases sometimes go up while they come down on other occasions. So, we need to observe the trend further for about a week or 10 days when we can actually say that there is a certain decline. We are focussing more on RT-PCR tests nowadays,” said Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar, chief medical officer (CMO), Ghaziabad.

The district on Wednesday also recorded one more Covid-related fatality of a 51-year-old man from Nandgram locality. The officials said that the patient had comorbidities such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.

With the death, the overall tally of the deaths has gone up to 468 which include seven in January this year.

“In most of the death cases, the aggravating factors are co-morbid conditions and also people aged over 60 years. So, it is vital that this group of people get themselves vaccinated,” said the CMO.

Experts said that the cases are definitely on a decline. “It seems that the peak has got over. The cases are still emerging but patients are recovering in 3-4 days with mild symptoms. Those who died were the ones who did not receive any vaccination or had comorbid conditions,” said Dr Ashish Aggarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).