New Covid-19 hot spots emerge in Gurugram

Covid-19 cases in the district are now being reported from the new hot spots, according to the data available with the district health department.

Covid-19 cases in the district are now being reported from the new hot spots, according to the data available with the district health department.

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These new hot spots include areas such as Feroze Gandhi Colony, Manesar, Farrukhnagar and Rajender Park, which, until the last week of September, were not showing peak numbers in terms of active cases. Presently, the district is reporting 260 new Covid -19 cases on a daily average for the last one week. Officials said that a large proportion of the new cases are being from these hot spots, although they refused to share as to what percentage of the new cases is being reported from these new hot spots.

Data compiled by the district health department between October 4 and 10 shows that the urban primary health centres (UPHCs) of Feroze Gandhi Colony showed the highest positivity rate of almost 21% in the district, followed by 17% positivity rate in Manesar, 15% in Farrukhnagar, 14% in Patel Nagar and almost 11% in Rajendra Park. Feroze Gandhi Colony, Patel Nagar and Rajendra Park UPHCs mostly cover densely populated areas within Gurugram block, while Farrukhnagar is mostly a rural region. Manesar, on the other hand, is an industrial belt.

According to the health officials, the positivity rate is based on the number of samples tested positive for the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test conducted in the government labs. Notably, the RT-PCR lab in Civil Hospital Sector 10 has been conducting more than 1,000 Covid-19 tests a day.

These emerging hotspots have replaced some of the earlier worst-affected areas like Tigra, Chanderlok, Wazirabad, Patel Nagar, and Laxman Vihar, which had the highest number of cases over the last two months. The health officials, however, refused to share their positivity rates but said that in these areas new Covid-19 cases have come down when compared to the new hot spots.

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram, said, “Hot spot mapping varies every week based on which new areas emerge. Since we are in the unlock phase, cases are being reported from all areas. With the help of Aarogya Setu application and contact tracing of suspected cases, hot spots are automatically marked on the GPS systems based on which we hold our testing camps.”

According to Yadav, continuous sampling and testing are being conducted in emerging Covid-19 hot spots. This exercise will continue till the positivity rate comes down to at least 7%. At present, the average positivity rate of the district is 7.5%. “The department has been retaining the overall testing in the district to an average of 3,000 per day. It largely includes RT-PCR tests. Due to the intensive sampling in the district and a steady trickle of new Covid-19 cases, between 250-260 on average, have put the Covid-19 trajectory of the district on a plateau at present. The number of active cases is fluctuating between 2,300-2,400, while the hospitalisation is varying between 150-170 patients.”

On Wednesday, the district reported 269 new cases of Covid-19. The total count has reached 24,320, of which 2,327 are active cases, while 21,805 have recovered from the illness. The Covid-19 toll stands at 188, with one new death being confirmed on Wednesday. Out of total number of deaths, 136 patients had co-morbidity issues.