No Covid-19 death in last two months in Noida

NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar district has not reported a single death due to Covid-19 since January 6 or in the past two months, according to the state health bulletin. However, as many as 540 new cases have been detected in the district between January 6 and March 6, the data shows.

The last time GB Nagar had witnessed a Covid-19 death was on January 5 this year. So far, the virus has claimed 91 deaths in the district which had reported its first Covid-19 positive case on March 8. At present, the district has 84 active cases, as per the state data.

GB Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said that the district’s low fatality rate is due to the administration’s emphasis on early detection of Covid-19 cases. “Due to the continuous efforts of doctors, paramedical staff and personnel from other departments, we tested over 10 lakh persons so far. It was the result of the increased testing that the district started witnessing a continuous reduction in positivity rate and cases of new infection since mid-October last year,” he said.

The DM further said that the integrated Covid-19 control room in sector 59 worked well in fight with the Covid-19 in the district. “It helped improve our surveillance and contact tracing as early detection of cases and containing the pandemic was the most important job in the beginning. And, now the same control room serves as a counselling centre for the vaccinated beneficiaries,” he said.

“Earlier, we focussed on non-pharmaceutical interventions like enforcement of social distancing norms and wearing of masks. And, now when the vaccination has started, we’ve started to clear people’s apprehension about the vaccine. As a result, the vaccination cover in the district is increasing day by day. Till date, over 30,000 doses have been given to the beneficiaries in the district, ” Suhas said.

GB Nagar chief medical officer Dr Deepak Ohri said that it was the ‘tracking, testing and treating’ methodology of the district administration that we crossed the worst phase of infection from May to December last year, during which 90 people lost their lives battling Covid-19.

“The current year is much better for the district as except the death of a 62-year-old Covid-19 infected cancer patient on January 5, no other death due to the viral infection has been reported. Even the number of the daily average cases – which were never below 80 between August and December last year, was reduced to 12.41 and 6.39 cases per day in January and February, respectively. This month so far, the average daily cases are less than 8,” he said.