HUBBALLI: In what is being attributed to
widespread testing and early treatment,
Gadag district has not reported a
Covid-19 death in the past 44 days. As of Monday (November 30), the district had only 59
active cases and had reported a total 147 fatalities. The last death was reported on October 17, sources said.
Dr Satish Basarigidad, district health officer, said authorities are conducting 1,700
Covid tests including 1,500
RT-PCR tests every day, despite there being only a few positive cases. He said measures like detecting mild and moderate cases early have proved successful in the district.
“Be it special drives on spreading awareness on Covid-19 or ensuring people wear masks while out in public, we are leaving no stone unturned to curb the spread of the virus,” Dr Basarigidad said. “We were afraid that there would be a surge in cases during the festive season, but luckily that did not happen.”
He said that since the number of fresh cases has fallen drastically, all Covid Care Centres have been scrapped and the administration has made arrangements to treat all patients at taluk hospitals.
Dr PS Bhusaraddi, director, Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) said he was pleased with the way the district has been able to curb the spread of the virus.
“Despite a huge number of tests being conducted, very few positive cases are being reported, which is a good sign. The district has been reporting only 2-3 cases per day on several days lately, which is a great sign,” said Dr Bhusaraddi.
The GIMS director said he believed the district may have achieved herd immunity against Covid-19, but admitted a study was needed to confirm this. But, a statewide serosurvey conducted by the health and family welfare department in August and September showed very few people in the district were exposed to the virus.