After a year, Covid cases drop to single digit in city

Nagpur: The number of Covid-19 positive cases dropped to single digit (8) in the city after almost a year. In all, the district registered 16 cases on Saturday, the lowest after 361 days.
As per the data of district civil surgeon, eight persons were found positive of the 7,493 tests in the city on Saturday. Previously, eight cases were registered on June 22 last year, but tests were only 34 then. From June 23, 2020, onwards, the cases have always been above 10, as per the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC).
It also meant that the cases were in single digit in the city for the first time since the peak of first wave witnessed in August and September.
Test positivity rate (TPR) of the city on Saturday was 0.11%, which was probably the lowest-ever in the 15-month-long pandemic.
Of the eight cases, three were from one family residing at Wanjari Nagar and two from one Nara family. The remaining three were from Shahu Nagar, Bhagwan Nagar and Gittikhadan.
The 16 cases in the district were the lowest since June 23 last year when the number was 15. TPR of the district was 0.16% on Saturday as 9,809 tests were conducted. The cases from rural areas were seven from 2,316 tests to lodge a TPR of 0.3%.
NMC additional municipal commissioner Ram Joshi told TOI, “It is a big relief for the city as cases dropped below 10 in a day. We are ensuring tracing and testing of all contacts of positive patients. People should follow Covid-19 guidelines and prevent any rise in cases,” he said.
Another highlight of the day was that none of 1,574 persons tested under rapid antigen came positive in the district.
Joshi said most of those who tested positive are symptomatic persons. “We have maintained satisfactory number of tests by continuing special camps. Also, some people are testing for various reasons like travelling to other states or resuming work at offices etc,” he said.
The district had registered highest cases of 7,999 on April 24. On the same day, the city also recorded its highest cases of 5,236.
There were no deaths from the city and rural areas for the second consecutive day. The district recorded one fatality and the deceased was a resident of other district.
Total 115 patients recovered on Saturday. Recoveries have been more than new cases for 51 consecutive days. Active cases dropped to 1,002 in the district, which were 0.2% of total cases.