Gurugram records less than 400 Covid-19 cases for the first time in over a month

At least 394 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed in the district on Saturday taking the tally to 51,840, according to the district health bulletin.

At least 394 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed in the district on Saturday taking the tally to 51,840, according to the district health bulletin.

HT Image

This is the first time in the last 38 days that Gurugram has recorded less than 400 new Covid-19 infections in a single day. Senior health officials attribute the decline in the new Covid-19 cases over the last one week to the aggressive testing conducted across the city. On Saturday, more than over 10,000 tests were conducted in the district.

Data shows that on October 28, the district health department had identified 397 new cases. Since then, there has been a consistent upward trend in new infections. The slump in new cases, however, became visible from November 29 onwards with daily average cases hovering around 460 — far lower than the 726 daily average cases in the first half of November.

The weekly test positivity rate — total positives out of the samples collected for testing — has come down to nearly seven percent from almost 18 percent recorded in the first half of November. The test positivity rate along with a high recovery rate in the last one week has also led to a decline in the number of active cases, which have been reduced to 3,792 from 6,367 recorded on November 28.

“A significant increase in testing in the last two weeks has helped in lowering the positivity rate,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer(CMO). On Saturday, a total 10,002 Covid-19 tests were administered. Of which 8,625 were Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). It is for the third time that the district health department conducted more than 10,000 Covid-19 tests. On November 21, at least 10,200 tests were carried out, followed by 25,101 tests on November 28.

In the last two weeks, at least 1,06,659 tests have been conducted, almost 40 percent higher than the cumulative sum of 64,135 tests conducted in the previous two weeks (from November 8 till November 21). “Regular testing camps and increased RT-PCR have helped in identifying new cases. On Saturday too, 21 camps were being held. Daily testing will continue to remain above 5,000 until there is a further downfall,” said Yadav,

The decline in new cases has also led to the downfall in seriously ill patients requiring hospitalisation. As per the health bulletin, 262 people were admitted in hospitals. It exceeded above 400 in November. Presently, out of the active cases, at least 3,515 positive patients are home-isolated. The Covid-19 toll stands at 314 with four deaths on Saturday, out of which 243 were due to co-morbidity and 71 without co-morbidity.