The Covid-19 positivity rate has been declining in Chhattisgarh over the last week, but there has been a surge in infections in rural areas because of social functions such as marriages, health minister TS Singh Deo has said.
Deo called the social events the biggest super-spreaders in villages, where people were not taking the pandemic seriously. “We have asked the administration to be more alert and implement the curfew strictly.”
A health department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deaths have increased in the last 15 days in predominantly rural districts such as Raigarh, Janngir Champa, Kanker.
Raigarh (11,533) has the highest active case in the state followed by Raigarh (10,463).
The government on Monday said the positivity rate came down to 19% on May 9 from 28% on May 4.
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Deo called the decrease some degree of success. “The death rate is still stagnant, and we are trying to reduce this. We have to make arrangements for the numbers and not the percentage and that is where our focus is right now. He added they have roped in social workers, NGOs to amplify the call for vaccination and testing. “They are doing their best to spread the word about the symptoms, encouraging people to get tested and countering the misinformation regarding vaccines,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Deo called the decrease some degree of success. “The death rate is still stagnant, and we are trying to reduce this. We have to make arrangements for the numbers and not the percentage and that is where our focus is right now. He added they have roped in social workers, NGOs to amplify the call for vaccination and testing. “They are doing their best to spread the word about the symptoms, encouraging people to get tested and countering the misinformation regarding vaccines,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Deo added it is impossible to build hospitals in each village. “We need to shift patients to dedicated Covid care facilities to save their lives. We have activated lower-level centres for checking and monitoring. Once the symptoms are visible, they would shift the patients to the centres built to cure.”
As many as 1,257 people have died of Covid-19 in the state since May 5.