E-Paper
Uttarakhand reaches highest Covid-19 infection rate at 5.34 %
Uttarakhand authorities plan to increase the sample size for testing to decrease the infection rate.
The Covid 19 infection rate in Uttarakhand has increased to 5.34 %, the highest since March 16, a day after the first Covid 19 case was detected in the state on March 15.
The infection rate has risen, especially in the last one month, with a steady increase in positive cases. On August 12, nearly a fortnight ago, the infection rate in the state was 5.0 % while nearly a month ago, on July 27, it was 4.62 %.
The plain districts of Nainital, US Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun have reported the highest infection rate in the state in the range of 6 % to 8.7 %, with
Nainital’s infection rate being the highest, at over 8.7 %.
Haridwar district, however, has reported the maximum 4,293 Covid-19 positive cases so far followed by Dehradun (3,637), US Nagar (3,382) and Nainital (2,513).
Uttarakhand government has conducted over 3.61 lakh tests till now and has a tally of 17,865 positive cases including 239 fatalities. 12,124 patients have recovered from the disease, taking the recovery rate to 67.86 %. In comparison, the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh has reported just 5,501 cases and 33 deaths due to Covid 19.
Anoop Nautiyal, whose Social Development for Communities Foundation, has been analysing the Covid-19 data in the state said that hills are performing better in terms of the infection rate compared to the areas in the plains.
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“5.34 % is the highest infection rate in the state so far if you leave the day one on March 15, when the first case was detected. After that it is the highest. With infection rate increasing steadily during the last one month, we should expect 30,000 to 35,000 cases by next month and nearly 9,000 to 10,000 active cases. Given this scenario, people and authorities in the state have to be very cautious and pull up their socks for better management of active cases”, he said.
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Abhishek Tripathi, chief operations officer for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand, said that the infection rate can only be controlled by increasing the sample size for testing, which is a continuous process.
“Daily testing has been increased to 10,000 samples a day, which will further be increased. All possible facilities are being given to the Covid-19 positive patients in the state and efforts are being made at many levels to bring down the overall infection rate,” said Tripathi.
