Gurugram: Last week’s tally of Covid-19 cases lowest in over a month

The district over the past week also tested 19,200 new samples, resulting in a weekly test positivity rate (TPR, number of positive tests per 100 tests) of 8%-- also the lowest in at least five weeks.

Gurugram recorded 287 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, taking the total tally of reported infections to 21,732 cases. The past week (September 28-October 4) saw 1,557 new cases -- the lowest seven-day aggregate in at least five weeks.

Health department officials cited the downward trend in these numbers as evidence that transmission of the coronavirus disease had decelerated in the district. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The district over the past week also tested 19,200 new samples, resulting in a weekly test positivity rate (TPR, number of positive tests per 100 tests) of 8%-- also the lowest in at least five weeks.

Health department officials cited the downward trend in these numbers as evidence that transmission of the coronavirus disease had decelerated in the district.

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“We have been testing at least 2,500 samples per day, and the TPR has now gone down to below 10%, which indicates that the virus has slowed in terms of transmission. If there was anything missing in our testing strategy, we would have found new clusters emerging, and this has not happened. This is the biggest sign that transmission of the virus itself has been curbed. Why this is happening despite more and more public movement opening up is still a matter of debate, but with fewer cases coming in each day, we are in a position to treat the most severe cases better and reduce mortality, which we have been successful in doing,” said Dr. Jai Prakash Sharma, district surveillance officer.

From a fatality rate of 1% in early September, Gururgram’s case fatality ratio (CFR) has been on a steady decline, dipping to 0.82 percent on October 4. Bed occupancy in Gurugram’s hospitals is also the lowest it has been in at least four weeks. On September 7, ICU and ventilator bed occupancy was at 60 percent, whereas only 30 percent of ICU beds and ventilators are occupied at the moment. “So in terms of availability of resources, we are adequately equipped to deal with a rise in symptomatic infections if it happens,” Sharma said.

The district at present has 2,408 active cases of Covid-19 (less than 2510 cases a week ago, and less than 2811 cases recorded a fortnight ago). Of these, 184 are presently hospitalised (down from 228 a week ago), while 2199 patients are under home isolation (down from 2257 patients a week ago). Another 25 patients (down from 38 a week ago) are under observation at district covid care centres. The daily growth rate of cases, from being well over 2 percent in mid-September, currently stands at 1.3 percent. This has resulted in an expansion of the doubling-rate of cases. From a doubling-rate of just 40 days in mid-September, Gurugram’s total tally would take 81 days to double at the current daily growth rate.