Gurgaon has seen a surge in coronavirus cases this month, recording more than half the number of cases that emerged in all of October in just 10 days (Express file photo by Amit Mehra)Gurgaon has seen a massive surge in coronavirus cases this month, recording more than half the number of cases that emerged in all of October in mere ten days. While the district recorded 9,299 new cases in October— highest in a month so far — 6,155 cases have already emerged until November 10.
As per the the district health bulletin, Gurgaon recorded over 500 cases on 8 of the 10 days this month, with the number of fresh cases peaking at 964 on November 8. In the last 10 days of October, in contrast, the number of cases emerging daily had hovered between 300 and 500. The number of fatalities recorded in the first ten days of this month is 19, whereas 39 fatalities were recorded in all of October. The positivity rate of the district has also jumped to 8.9 per cent.
Despite this surge, officials from the health department insist that facilities in the district are sufficient to combat the rise in cases. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Virender Yadav told The Indian Express, “Hardly 5 % of the patients who test positive for coronavirus require admission. The number of hospital beds reserved for coronavirus patients at present is sufficient to deal with this surge, but we can increase the capacity whenever required. This has been discussed at a meeting with representatives of different hospitals Tuesday.” Data shared by officials back this claim, revealing that only 26.6 per cent of hospital beds reserved for coronavirus patients are occupied now. Gurgaon has 1,975 beds reserved for coronavirus patients. While 155 of 260 ICU beds are occupied, 47 of 122 available ventilator beds are currently in use.
. “There has been a surge in coronavirus cases in all of Delhi-NCR recently. The fact that this is the festival season as well as viral season and that people are not following norms, are all contributing to this rise. We are expecting cases to continue to rise in the days ahead,” said the CMO, adding, “We have increased the number of testing camps and have stepped up contact tracing and targeted sampling. ” he said.