26 days on, Noida releases testing data after TOI report

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: Noida has tested about 900 Covid samples in the past 48 hours, revealed the health department on Saturday, the same day that TOI reported that testing data had not been released for the past 26 days.
Between May 18 and June 13, the Noida health department had shared data only on one day — May 25 — when it had revealed it had conducted 10,222 tests till then. On Saturday, 493 samples were tested in the district, of which 35 turned out to be Covid positive.
According to the bulletin that was released on Saturday, Noida’s testing numbers have gone up from 12,168 on June 11 to 13,066.
Officials said the rate of testing went up considerably after the district administration launched the Covid helpline — 1800-4192-211 — on Friday to schedule sample collection of residents who have been exhibiting symptoms. Sources said from the time the helpline had been launched to accommodate the requests of residents, almost 900 of them have reached out for tests. Over the past two days, 130 fresh Covid cases have been reported in the city, a positivity rate of 14.50%. Before this, Noida had been collecting a substantial number of samples every day in early April. The rate of collection was much ahead than that in neighbouring Ghaziabad. However, Ghaziabad ramped up its testing rate in the past 14 days and managed to dispose of 13,320 samples by Saturday.
Noida district magistrate Suhas LY assured that the testing numbers would only rise in the coming days. “We have evolved a mechanism to test more number of people in the city. Our testing rate per 10 lakh population continues to be 60% higher than the national average,” he said.
The senior official emphasised that the district had initiated a campaign to conduct sampling and detect active carriers and their immediate contacts at the earliest. On Saturday, the surveillance team of the health department collected samples of auto-rickshaw drivers who had been plying their vehicles on the road since June 1. The team has scheduled visits to old age homes, bus stops, prominent hotels and restaurants, chemist stores as well as offices to collect samples of more people who have been mingling with the community ever since lockdown norms have been relaxed.
Among the 35 who tested positive in Noida on Saturday, five were primary contacts of previous patients while the remaining 30 had exhibited symptoms of influenza like illness. In Noida, 865 people have tested positive, of which 359 are undergoing treatment. So far, 12 persons who were found to have Covid have died. At present, three government and two private laboratories have been conducting tests here. Four more private facilities have sought permission from authorities in this regard and are expected to begin testing in the next few days.
In Ghaziabad, 23 people were found to have Covid on Saturday. The total count in the district has increased to 604. One more person died in Ghaziabad after testing positive, taking the total number of deaths to 20. Among the 23 people who tested positive on Saturday, three each were from Khoda Colony and Siddharth Nagar while two were from Muradnagar.