Sudden spike has been registered in the number of COVID-19 cases in the Millennium City this week, mostly due to holding of social and family gatherings, said Gurugram Chief Medical Officer, Virender Yadav on Friday. In a related development, the shopping malls and shops, except those dealing in essential services, will remain shut on Mondays and Tuesdays in the State instead of over the weekend.

Mr. Yadav, addressing a weekly press conference, said that 793 cases of COVID-19 were recorded this week compared with 620 the previous week, indicating a rise in rate of infection. He added that the infection cases are now doubled every 80 days compared to 90-odd earlier. He attributed the rise in COVID-19 cases to social and family gatherings, saying that people from the same family or locality were found infected. Supporting his assertion, Mr. Yadav said that seventeen people were found infected in a house in Jacobpura and ten National Security Guard commandos had also tested positive. The officer informed that the positivity rate was 6.77% and the mortality rate was 1.15% for the district. A total of 1,58,528 people have been tested so far and the number of tests conducted per million is 1,11,310. In August, 54,694 tests have been conducted, including 29, 691 antigen tests. The rate of infection for antigen tests is 2%, but it is around 6% for RT-PCR test.

Camps for testing

Mr. Yadav said around 100 camps would be held to conduct tests. He made an appeal to the shopkeepers, especially those in Sadar Bazar, to come forward for the tests. Mr. Yadav said there were no cases reported in industrial sector and factories. Meanwhile, State Disaster Management Authority reconsidered its earlier order to shut down shopping malls and shops, except those dealing in essential goods and services, over the weekend and fixed it for Mondays and Tuesdays. The liquor vends, however, will stay out of the purview of the order and remain open.

Huge relief

The government’s decision to shut commercial establishments on the weekend had met strong opposition from the business community saying that it would ruin their business. Lalit Rawat, manager, Metropolis Shopping Mall, welcomed the decision saying it was a huge relief for the shopkeepers.