Gurugram records low footfall at sample collection booths on extensive testing day

The district health department on Saturday administered nearly 6,100 Covid-19 tests — a number that fell slightly below the expected target of 7,000 tests. Complying

The district health department on Saturday administered nearly 6,100 Covid-19 tests — a number that fell slightly below the expected target of 7,000 tests. Complying with the state government’s directive to conduct extensive Covid-19 testing on every Saturday, the health department held camps across the city. Senior officials, however, cited that footfall at the sample collection booths has been gradually declining.

HT Image

Data shows that the daily testing count has come down to 4,775 over the last six days as compared to 6,000 tests done on an average in the last week of November, leading to a steady downfall in the weekly test positivity rate – number of positives out of the total samples collected.

On Saturday, at least 20 camps were held across the city, including the Kapashera border, which connects Gurugram with the adjoining national Capital. At least 6,144 tests were administered, out of which 5,794 were through Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and only 350 through Rapid Antigen Tests.

“Camps are held for people to walk in voluntarily and get tested. Our health workers do not force people to get tested. The gradual decline in overall cases has impacted the footfall of people at the sample collection booths,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer. According to him, the target was to administer almost 7,000 tests on the extensive testing day. “Following the directive of the state health department, maximum Covid-19 tests are to be administered on every Saturday of the month. It is for this reason, on December 5, at least 10,000 tests were done,” he said. Data shows that even after increased testing, less than 400 new cases were confirmed.

According to Yadav, special Covid-19 testing drive will continue to keep a control on the number of active cases, which has seen constant upward trajectory for the last two months, followed by a relative decline in the past few days.

As per the district health bulletin, at least 276 new infections were confirmed on Saturday out of the 4,519 tests administered on Friday. The weekly test positivity rate remains at seven percent. With new infections, the total Covid-19 tally has reached 54,330, out of which 2,205 are active cases. Last time, the district recorded such a low count of active cases was on September 13 (2,232). On an average, 356 new cases were recorded this week, while 580 recoveries were reported. Currently, the recovery rate is almost 95 percent.

Out of the current active cases, only 6.8 percent (150 people) of the seriously ill patients are undergoing treatment in hospitals. Eight of the patients are in Covid care centres, while 2,047 are home-isolated. The Covid-19 death toll stands at 329, with one death being recorded on Saturday.