Gurugram doubling rate of Covid-19 cases improves to 108 days
The district’s doubling rate of Covid-19 infections improved to 108 days on Friday, up from 58 days on July 27, as per the data available with the district health department. The doubling rate indicates the time taken for the total number of Covid-19 infections to double. A higher doubling rate suggests a relatively slower pace of the spread of the disease. Confirming this improvement, health department officials also added that Gurugram’s daily growth rate of Covid-19 cases has also dipped from about 1.4% on July 27 to 0.87% on Saturday, indicating an even further slowing down of the outbreak than what was observed in July.
For the eighth day in a row, Gurugram reported less than 100 new cases per day, leading officials to believe that the situation in the district is under control. State-level data too shows that Gurugram’s doubling-rate is the slowest among all of Haryana’s 22 districts, followed by Nuh (65 days). Neighbouring Faridabad, meanwhile, has a doubling rate of about 40 days, as of August 7. On the other hand, districts that were relatively free of Covid-19 earlier are now reporting new positives with increasing frequency.
A state-level official with the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program, seeking anonymity, said, “The rural districts are now coming into focus. Gurugram’s confirmed cases rose by only 5% in the last seven days, but Panchkula reported 53% of the new cases. Yamunanagar and Panipat are the other two districts where infections are growing at a faster rate.”
Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer (CMO), Gurugram, said that the health department’s efforts have been able to break the chain of transmission of the virus. “We have been observing a declining growth rate and an increase in doubling rate for multiple weeks now. Without proper public health vigilance, the numbers would not have shown a downward trend, week after week. This means we have been able to test enough, isolate quickly and prevent fatalities,” said Yadav.
The district’s recovery rate on Friday touched 91%, which is the second-highest in Haryana, preceded by a 93% recovery rate in Bhiwani. The number of recoveries outweighed daily new positives by 5% in the past seven days. In fact, Gurugram is now at number 34 in the list of India’s worst-affected districts (by caseload) shows data by the ministry of health and family welfare. Just a week ago, Gurugram was at number 25. Earlier on in the outbreak, Gurugram for several weeks remained in the top 20 of the worst-affected districts.
Rajesh Kumar, epidemiologist and a former professor of community medicine, said, “While the numbers do provide some relief, it doesn’t mean we let our guard down. Gurugram may be past a peak, but there’s a lot we don’t know about the virus yet, and nationwide cases are still climbing. Social distancing is just as important as it was four months ago.”