Rapid test kit positivity at all-time low in December, RT-PCR lowest since April

Ghaziabad: The positivity rate of the tests conducted through rapid antigen kits and also through the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method

Ghaziabad: The positivity rate of the tests conducted through rapid antigen kits and also through the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method is on a declining trend in Ghaziabad. Officials from the district administration said the figures indicate that the number of Covid-19 cases has slowed down in December.

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According to official records of the district health department, the positivity rate of the antigen tests is at all-time low ever since such tests were initiated on June 26. In July, the positivity rate was 2.44% (58,647 tests conducted giving 1,430 positives) and peaked to 3.85% in the month of September with 70,248 tests yielding 2,702 positive cases. It now stands at all-time low of 1.76% in first 20 days of December with figures stating 35,905 tests giving 632 positives.

Similarly, in the first 20 days of December, the positivity rate of the “gold standard” RT-PCR tests stood at 4.19% (33,323 tests giving 1395 cases) which is the lowest since April when the positivity was 2.69% when 2,601 tests yielded 70 positive cases.

“The figures indicate that the trend of fresh cases has slowed down this month, but we are still not lowering the guard and taking up effective surveillance and focussed testing in high incidence areas. We are also making all efforts to bring down the number of cases in high incidence areas,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

Experts said that the figures indicate a declining trend. “The figures indicate a declining trend but we must continue to keep a watch on figures for another two months. There are also new issues as a new strain of virus has cropped up in some countries like Britain. So, all precautions must continue,” said Dr VB Jindal, former president of the Indian Medical Association – Ghaziabad.

The figures also indicate that the average daily tests in 20 days of December stood at 3,285 while the corresponding figure was about 4,057 for the month of November and 3,298 in October.

The official figures show that the Ghaziabad district till December 20 has completed overall 614,430 tests/samples which yielded 25,496 positive cases. The total tests also include 353,762 tests conducted through the rapid antigen kits.

The officials of the state health department on Tuesday said that they have also witnessed a decline of daily cases in the state in the past week. “In the week of December 14 to 20, daily average cases in UP were 1,352 while in the previous week of December 7 to 13 the daily average was 1,520. So, there is a decline in cases and indicates that the infection is coming down. However, we are keeping special focus on the people in age group over 60 years. Their share in total cases is 10.62% while they have a high share of 46.09% in overall fatalities,” Amit Mohan Prasad, UP’s additional chief secretary (health), said during a briefing in Lucknow on Tuesday.