Covid-19 in Gujarat: Cases dip, but positivity rate rises

AHMEDABAD: Consider it a silver lining for the state — the daily Covid cases have been dropping for three consecutive days. The tally dropped 12.2% in three days. But a close inspection reveals that the drop in cases could be attributed to the drop in testing, which also fell by 18.1% in three days.
Thus, while the daily cases are falling slightly, the state is witnessing a rise in the test positivity rate (TPR). Compared to the TPR of 9% last Monday — meaning every 1,000 tests finding 90 positive cases — on May 3, the TPR was 9.7%, finding 97 positive cases for every 1,000 tests.

An analysis of the figures reveals that testing has fallen in almost all districts. Of the four most populous districts, Ahmedabad topped with a TPR of 17.4%, followed by Vadodara (10.8%), Rajkot (5.5%), and Surat (5.3%).
“Testing is one of the most important and basic tools for Covid control. The faster a person is identified as a positive patient, the quicker he/she can be isolated and further multiplication of the spread can be arrested,” said a city-based epidemiologist. “Aggressive testing has proved to be an effective strategy in many states and countries.”