At Amrik- Sukhdev Dhaba after 65 staffers tested positive for Covid-19, at Murthal in Sonipat Thursday. (PTI)The mid-September projection for coronavirus cases in Haryana has gone haywire amid a steady spike in infections with several districts already surpassing the numbers in the first two days of the month both in terms of active patients and the cumulative number of positive cases.
By September 2, at least eight districts crossed the figures projected for September 15 while some others are within a touching distance.
For instance, against the government’s projection of 644 active cases by September 15, Panchkula had recorded 990 cases till September 2. In Bhiwani, the active case count reached 333 – the projected number for mid-month – on September 2. Similarly, as against the projection of 508, Hisar had 763 active cases, Kurukshetra had 763 (as against 563), Kaithal had 519, nearly double that of the projected 262, and Karnal had 1,059 active cases against the projected 718. Sirsa had 560 active cases on September 2, as against the projected 445 while it it was 620 in Yamunanagar, also nearly double the projected 337.
The active cases in Faridabad, one of the worst-hit districts, was 823 on September 2, the government has projected that it will rise to 3806 by September 15. For Gurgaon too, the mid-month projection is 3186 as against 1,133 on September 2, while for Rewari it is 1149 (up from 532), Ambala 1211 (up from 579), and Jhajjar 336 (from 204).
The first two days of September recorded more than 3,200 new Covid-19 infections while around 2,000 patients recovered.
Haryana has projected 18,226 active Covid patients in the state by September 15. This number was 11,371 till August 31 and 12,622 on September 2. While the positivity rate has begun to spike and reached 5.73 per cent Thursday, the recovery rate reduced to 80.44 per cent.
To keep its Covid-related health infrastructure prepared to deal with the rising number of cases, the state health department conducts a Gap Analysis (at least two weeks in advance) in all the districts.
The Gap Analysis shows that state still has adequate infrastructure to deal with its projected numbers of patients.
“Against the 18,226 projected active cases, it is expected that 1094 may require isolation beds with oxygen facility, 547 may require ICU beds, and 182 may require ventilator support by September 15. The government has a total of 5.952 oxygenated isolation beds, 2,245 ICU beds and 1,092 ventilators,” the Gap Analysis reveals. Senior officials claim that they are regularly updating the health infrastructure as part of an ongoing process to combat the increase in Covid-19 cases.
The state had 68,218 cumulative Covid positive patients till September 2, within a touching distance of the 72,904 cases projected till September 15. Among districts, the projected figure for cumulative Covid patients till September 15 in Bhiwani was 1332. The district has already surpassed the figure and had reported 1521 cases by September 2. Fatehabad, against projected 908, had 997 cases, while Hisar had 2,536 as against 2,033. For Jind (668 cases on September 2), the projection for September 15 was 564; for Kaithal (1217), it was 1047; for Karnal (3140), it was 2870; for Rohtak (3135), it was 2816; and for Yamunanagar (1809), it was 1348 till September 2.