Unlike upscale localities, densely populated clusters low on Covid-19 cases in Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: The Covid-19 infection is more prevalent in Ghaziabad’s planned upscale localities than the densely populated clusters of the district, showed the data

Ghaziabad: The Covid-19 infection is more prevalent in Ghaziabad’s planned upscale localities than the densely populated clusters of the district, showed the data of the district health department. Experts and district officials have attributed the reason behind lower cases in the densely populated areas to “herd immunity” and enhanced surveillance.

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Even in December so far, posh areas of Indirapuram, Vaishali, Vasundhara, Raj Nagar and Shastri Nagar, among others, have reported more positive cases, while densely populated clusters like Khoda, Loni, Pasonda, Shaheed Nagar, Kaila Bhatta and Dasna have seen reduction in cases. Such localities have small houses which are closely constructed and also have a greater number of occupants as compared to the planned localities.

As per the data, for instance, Khoda, which has a population of about 5-6 lakh, has recorded overall 359 Covid-19 cases since March to December 19. However, it received only 16 cases in December. Likewise, Kaila Bhatta, which is another densely populated area with an estimated population of about two lakhs, has 244 cases that include 10 in December. Shaheed Nagar has 34 overall cases with only one case in December so far.

The highly populated area of Loni has only 32 cases in December against the overall 734 cases during the period from March to December 19. Dasna, on the other hand, has overall 1,078 cases with only 69 in December so far, showed the data.

“The primary reason we can think of is about the precautions taken up by the local population and other measures like effective surveillance and testing taken up by the health department. In Khoda and Loni, we had earlier introduced our ‘sector scheme’ which also helped in controlling outbreak of infection. Otherwise, these areas are such that it would have become difficult for us to control the infection if it had spread,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

Unlike the densely populated clusters, the spread of infection is high in upscale localities. Indirapuram recorded 3,209 positive cases, including 382 in first 19 days of December, while Vaishali witnessed 1,544 cases (187 in December). Similarly, Vasundhara has total of 1,528 cases (207 in December), Raj Nagar 2,014 cases (109 in December) and Shashtri Nagar has 2,831 cases (254 in December).

Experts said that it is possible that people in densely populated clusters may have acquired “herd immunity”.

“People in densely populated clusters, of course, have better immunity. It is also possible that they have acquired some sort of ‘herd immunity’ in which the infection may have come and passed on without giving them symptoms,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, president of Indian Medical Association – Ghaziabad.

The first sero survey which was conducted in 11 districts, including Ghaziabad, in early September indicated that about 22.1% of people whose blood samples were tested were found positive for prevalence of antibodies. Most of the samples in Ghaziabad were primarily collected from areas like Loni, Dasna, Muradnagar and other densely populated clusters, the health officials said.

“Densely populated clusters had initially shown high incidence of cases, but over a period of time the cases have declined considerably. It is also due to efforts taken up with increased testing and surveillance. The sero surveillance comes into play in this regard and the prevalence of antibodies may even be high in some populated clusters. So, it may be possible that infection may have come and passed away without giving symptoms,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer.

“In villages too, we don’t have seen a spike in Covid cases,” Gupta added.