Testing, contact tracing remain key focus of Punjab

GEARING UP FOR WORSE: State ramps up testing fivefold in 2 months; caseload also comes down relatively but fatality rate remains a concern

Chandigarh Punjab has focused on testing and contact tracing in the past two months to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic even as the mortality rate continues to be an area of concern for the Amarinder Singh-led government.

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For about a week, 300-400 cases are getting added daily to the state’s patient tally, but in comparison to many other states, Punjab’s caseload has not increased that much.

On May 21, Punjab was among the top 10 states with a caseload of 2,028 and by July 20, the state was at 18th position.

On May 21, Punjab was conducting only 1,865 tests per million of population, which now has gone up to 14,204 tests per million, claims the health department. Currently, the state is conducting 10,000 tests per day, five times the number on May 20. The state is planning to increase the daily testing to 20,000 by September 10, it is learnt.

“Punjab had a different set of challenges because of the arrival of NRIs and labourers for farm and industrial sectors. Restrictions in movement also helped us in curbing the spread of virus as compared to other states,” said Punjab Covid-19 nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhaskar.

STATE FOCUSES ON CONTACT TRACING

Nearly 70% of Punjab’s total cases are the contacts of those having tested positive. As a preventive measure, the state has tested 10 people against each infected patient to break the infection chain. The health authorities claim that they have traced 99% of the contacts of every patient.

“In cases, where patients don’t share their contacts, we take help of police and procure CDR reports of mobile phone of positive cases and trace their locations and contacts. Help of IIT Chennai is also being taken to get details of GPS locations of the positives,” an official said.

Besides, the government has made it mandatory for every person visiting Punjab to get registered on the COVA app. Also, it is compulsory for every person coming from outside the state for more than 72 hours to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days.

Since July 17 when curfew relaxation were announced, of the 2.34 lakh people who arrived in Punjab from different states and abroad, 75,148 (32%) were tested for Covid-19. Of these, 1, 353 were found infected with a positivity rate of 1.8%.

HIGH CASE FATALITY

At 2.5%, the state high case fatality rate (CFR) continues to be a matter of concern as it is as high as the national average.

From total 265 deaths the states has witnessed due to COVID, maximum were above sixty years of age. “This can be attributed to the high rate of co-morbidities among those infected in Punjab. Our analysis of Covid-19 deaths in the state has found that nearly 30% of fatalities were actually due to other serious illnesses the patients were suffering from. Covid was not the primary cause of their death,” Dr Bhaskar claimed.

GEARING UP FOR THE WORSE

With the state’s daily case count touching 400, the government has now roped in private hospitals for treating Covid-19 patients after capping treatment rates at these facilities.

“We don’t know when the state will hit the pandemic peak. But we don’t want to take any chances. We are all prepared if the daily case count reaches 1,500,” said the nodal officer.

The government has set-up a plasma bank at Rajindra Medical College Patiala for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.