Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara have highest Covid-19 caseload in December

Ghaziabad: Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara have emerged as the top three localities having a high Covid-19 caseload in the recent mapping conducted by the Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara have emerged as the top three localities having a high Covid-19 caseload in the recent mapping conducted by the Ghaziabad health department from December 1 to 8. Officials said that they are concerned with rising number of cases, but focussed testing and surveillance is continuing to break the chain of infection.

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According to the latest mapping in December, Indirapuram has topped the list with 232 Covid-19 cases, while Vaishali and Vasundhara are on second and third spot with 126 cases each. Out of a total 1,258 Covid-19 cases that the district witnessed from December 1 to 8, share of the three localities is about 38.47%.

During the period from March to November, Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara had 2,819, 1,355 and 1,318 cases, respectively, according to the health department data. Their contribution to overall 23,060 Covid-19 cases during the period was about 23.81% in the district.

The Indirapuram locality is the worst affected as it topped the list of most cases during the period March to November and also running on the top of the monthly case list in September, October and November, the data showed.

“We are taking extra efforts to bring down the number of cases and trying to break the chain of infection. We have deputed additional teams to these areas and taking up focussed testing along with surveillance. Due to this, the cases are seemingly on rise but we expected them to decline once the chain of infection gets broken and positive persons are isolated,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

The three localities are located adjacent to each other and house an estimated population of about 6-7 lakh, the officials said. The localities also comprise major working-class population which travels to Delhi and other NCR cities like Noida and Gurugram on daily basis, they said.

“These areas have been high on number of cases for past several months and it is time that focussed testing is increased and carried out in each of the residential pockets in these areas. If there is shortage of staff, then more resources can be hired with the help of contingency funds sent by the government,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, president of Indian Medical Association – Ghaziabad.

“Increased testing is the only option to find out cases of infection and to isolate them at the earliest,” he added.

In November, the district health department had been conducting an average of about 4,058 tests per day but the testing has fallen to an average of about 3,750 tests per day in first eight days of December so far.

“There are number of our healthcare staff members who have contracted infection of late. These include our staff from the integrated disease surveillance program laboratory. So, several activities have got hampered as a result. In areas of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara, we have deployed more teams for testing,” said an officer from the district health department who wished not to be named.

According to official figures, 44 healthcare staff members of the district health department contracted Covid-19 infection in November while the figure was 19, 16 and 13 in the months of October, September and August, respectively.