Gurgaon: Alarmed over the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the city, the health department has started
screening residents for influenza-like illness (
ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (
SARI)
symptoms yet again.
Officials said those found with such symptoms will be tested for the virus. The last time the health department conducted this exercise was back in May last year when it isolated and tested people with SARI and ILI symptoms.
On April 2, more than 1,000 Asha workers started a door-to-door survey in Gurgaon in which they have been asking residents if they are having difficulties in breathing, about their travel history, past illnesses and whether they recently came in contact with any Covid-19 patient.
As many as 31,156 households have been surveyed and 1,55,749 people scanned by the health department as part of the drive so far. As many as 533 people were found with ILI symptoms while 1,498 people were found to have come in contact with
Covid patients.
In terms of new Covid cases, Gurgaon on Tuesday breached the 600-mark for the second time this year. As many as 604 people were found positive for Covid, taking the tally to 65,140. The health department said 384 people recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 61,382. An official said that no one succumbed to the infection in the past 24 hours. To date, 368 people have died of Covid-19 in the city, of whom 283 had comorbidities.
Active cases rising
The number of active Covid cases in the city showed a downward trend from January 18 to March 10, following which it has been rising again. At present, there are 3,505 active cases in Gurgaon.
The city has recorded 5,970 news cases since March 1. There has been a consistent rise in the weekly cumulative figures. In the first week of March, 306 new cases were added to the tally. The number rose to 461 in the second week of March, which again increased to 791 in the third week. On the fourth week ending March 28, Gurgaon added 1,468 new cases to its tally. From March 29 to April 6, a total of 3,828 cases were recorded.
Meanwhile, the district is also planning to identify asymptomatic cases and step up testing. In the past week, it increased testing from 5,000 to 6,000 samples each day. In the past 24 hours, the health authorities collected 7,151 samples for antigen and RT-PCR tests.
Gurgaon chief medical officer Dr Virender Yadav said, “We are aiming to decrease the positivity rate. We have already started conducting 7,000 tests daily. We are stressing on enforcing appropriate Covid behaviour in wake of the current surge.”