Eighth time daily case-spike cross 1000 mark during pandemic as district gets 1344 fresh cases

Ghaziabad:

Ghaziabad recorded a major single-day spike of over 1,000 fresh Covid cases a day for the eighth time since the start of the pandemic by reporting 1,344 cases on Monday.

According to data from the district health department, 7,982 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, leading to the sample positivity spiking to 16.84% on Monday. The average positivity rate for January till now is 7.17%.

Positivity rate refers to the percentage of people who test positive for the virus compared to those who have been tested for it.

Officials of the health department said that the overall sample positivity rate in the district during the pandemic so far is 2.65%.

“The positivity rate is rising fast along with the sharp increase in cases. It is expected that there may be a further rise in cases till the end of January or the first week of February and thereafter we may witness a decline. Of the 4,442 active cases till Monday, we have only 15 patients who required hospitalisation. So, the severity is very low or minimal,” said Dr Sunil Tyagi, additional chief medical officer.

The state government on Sunday issued directions reducing patients’ stay in home isolation from 10 days to seven. Officials said that this will significantly reduce the number of active cases because patients who stayed in home isolation are marked as active. However, once they are discharged in a lesser number of day, it will lessen the number of such cases.

According to records of the state control room, the district witnessed its first spike of 1,000 or more cases in a single day on April 22, 2021, when 1,023 cases were recorded.

Thereafter, 1,068 cases were recorded on April 27, 2021, 1,375 on April 30, 2021, 1,204 on May 01, 2021, 1,085 on May 2, 2021, and 1,057 and 1,373 on May 4 and 5, 2021 respectively.

Monday was the first day this year when the district recorded more than 1,000 cases a day.

During the second wave of the pandemic, the peak of Covid cases was witnessed from mid-April to May last year.

“Gauging the rise in cases, we have directed that all Covid-positive women will give birth at our L3 category government facility of Santosh Medical College. The occupancy of Covid beds has not increased but we have asked hospitals to be on standby in case of any eventuality,” the ACMO added.

According to experts, the trend of rising cases indicates that the current wave may rhea its peak by the end of January or early February.

“This can also be delayed if everyone follows all Covid precautionary measures such as wearing masks properly and maintaining social distancing, but the peak will arrive. We have seen that patients isolated at home displayed symptoms such as a drop in oxygen levels, breathlessness, cough, fever, cold or sore throat etc, and if these symptoms persist for four or more days, one must consult the doctor,” said Dr Sharad Joshi, associate director (pulmonology) at Max Hospital, Vaishali.

“The severity level of these symptoms is not high. It is seen that patients isolated at home are recovering well within 6–14 days depending upon the symptoms,” Dr Joshi added.

From January 5 to January 10, the district has conducted more than the daily target of 7,400tests the government assigned it.

During the six-day period, the district conducted 50,712 tests, resulting in 4,144 cases–a positivity rate of 8.17%.

According to officials, there are only 1001 patients who needed to be shifted from home isolation to hospitals due to their deteriorating health during the pandemic since September 30, 2021.

NEW MEASURES IN PLACE

Following a Covid review meeting in Lucknow on Monday, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed a slew of measures, which included the physical presence of only 50% employees in government/private organisations; the encouragement of work from home culture, and a minimum of seven days of salary and leaves for any employee of private organisation in case he/she tested positive for Covid.

He also directed that persons who tested positive for Covid at airports, railway stations and bus stations should be admitted to institutional isolation and arrangements should be made for their food and treatment.

The CM also directed nodal officers should be sent to stay for at least three days in their respective districts to review Covid preparedness and also directed all districts to ensure that all persons get at least the first Covid vaccine dose 10 days before the state assemble election day.