AHMEDABAD: The test positivity rate (TPR) of Gujarat on Sunday was 2.6% as the state carried out 60,081 tests to find 1,580 positive cases. In comparison, Ahmedabad district’s TPR was 4.4% or 1.7 times that of the state – the district conducted 10,103 tests to find 451 cases. It was the second consecutive day for the district to record 400-plus cases.
On the other hand, Surat district crossed the tally of 500 daily cases – the highest ever for any district of the state during the pandemic. The district had TPR of 2.6% — at par with the state – with 510 cases found from 19,561 tests. Vadodara had TPR of 2.8% with 132 cases from 4,638 and Rajkot 3.2% with 130 cases from 4,056 tests.
“In all, the state has doubled its TPR in past 17 days. The high TPR indicates wider spread of the infection among the given population. High number of tests can surely lead to higher cases,” said a city-based pathologist. “Need of the hour is also to understand the virus and not just the negative or positive, given the threat of the new variants. The state is heavily dependent on Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT), which accounts for about 70 to 75% of the daily testing. We must increase RT-PCR.”
Rajkot on Sunday became fourth district to cross 25,000 cumulative positive cases with 25,085. The four major districts – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot – have so far recorded 63% of the state’s total positive cases. The four districts also account for 68% out of 7,321 active cases with nearly 5,000 cases.