Not a single case of Covid reported in over 180 villages in GB Nagar: Survey

The number of tests in these rural blocks was 51,783 from April 15, and the number of RT-PCR tests were just under 6,900. During the same period, the district had conducted almost 70,000 tests.

A recent survey by the Gautam Budh Nagar administration revealed that there had been no cases of Covid-19 in 183 of the 399 villages so far despite the second wave raging through the district.

GB Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said that vigilance committees, formed to keep an eye out for symptoms, at all villages have been asked to ensure 100% testing. (Ravi Kumar/HT file photo)

The number of tests in these rural blocks was 51,783 from April 15, and the number of RT-PCR tests were just under 6,900. During the same period, the district had conducted almost 70,000 tests. The figures pointed to the district administration’s focus on villages, something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had stressed upon too.

GB Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said they had pursued aggressive testing at nearly 298 villages. “Till May 24, our health officials have conducted over 50,000 tests in as many as 298 villages, out of which 183 had no Covid-19 case. The positivity rate is less than 5% in the other villages,” he said.

The DM said that vigilance committees, formed to keep an eye out for symptoms, at all villages have been asked to ensure 100% testing. “They’ve instructed to report about people having influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms to the district health officials,” he said.

The Noida chapter of Indian medical association (IMA) has welcomed the district administration’s decision to ramp up testing in rural areas. Dr NK Gupta, its president, said that such micro-level efforts can be very effective in checking further spread of the infection.

District chief medical officer Dr Deepak Ohri said that they had been focussing on rapid antigen tests, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines.

On vaccinations, he said that, till Thursday, over 500,000 persons had been inoculated in the district so far. “While 408,324 of them received their first doses, the rest got their second dose. These figures indicate that despite some technical issues and lukewarm response in the initial days of vaccination drive, the inoculation in the district has been satisfactory,” he said.