Gautam Budh Nagar: Two more test positive for Covid-19, 59 active cases

The two identified persons include a 12-year-old girl from Sector 8, who has been admitted to Sharda Hospital, and 40-year-old man from the Kendriya Vihar 2, who has been admitted at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences.

As two more people from the district tested positive for Coronavirus disease, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases to 97 by Sunday evening, the district health department said it will start conducting rapid antibody tests (RAT) in the 30 hot spots to speedily assess the number of suspected cases.

As on Sunday evening, there were a total of 4,212 cluster containment teams in the district, 4,15,369 houses had been surveyed and 13,24,278 persons screened. (HT file photo)

The two identified persons include a 12-year-old girl from Sector 8, who has been admitted to Sharda Hospital, and 40-year-old man from the Kendriya Vihar 2, who has been admitted at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences.

Though officials were yet to ascertain the source of infection for either of the patients, health officials, since April 8, have shifted hundreds of people from the slums in Sector 8 and 5 to government quarantine centres as a precautionary measure. The step was taken after four persons, with one linked to Ceasefire, tested positive for Covid-19 in the Sector 5 JJ Colony.

The girl, a resident of the slums in Sector 8, was confirmed as infected in her second test which was conducted as she was symptomatic.

Meanwhile, the district administration has decided to start conducting rapid antibody tests—a supplementary tool which detects Covid antibodies in the bloodstream in about 15 minutes as opposed to the 24- to 48-hour testing time for the Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) molecular tests—to speedily assess cluster spread. However, RAT is known to show negative result during the initial stage of the infection.

The district has received 1,000 RAT kits. Officials said they would go in vans to conduct random testing of suspects in and around hot spots.

Meanwhile, GIMS has come up with a Covid triage kiosk with cubicles for doctors so they can talk to the patient through microphones, reducing the risk of contracting infection.

“With this system in place, the doctor can observe patient at close quarters and ensure there is no communication gap. It will also help in keeping the medical staff safe. We are expecting that the initiative will help us in creating a better system to fight Covid-19,” GIMS director Dr Rakesh Gupta said.

As on Sunday evening, there were a total of 4,212 cluster containment teams in the district, 4,15,369 houses had been surveyed and 13,24,278 persons screened. The health department had notified 1,967 travellers and 1,119 people were under surveillance. A total of 2,289 samples had been collected.

Currently, there are 59 active Covid-19 cases in the district.