Covid-19: Weekly positivity rate below 2% for all districts, Maharashtra average lower at 0.8%

PUNE: All districts in Maharashtra have registered a positivity rate below 2% for the week ending December 7, revealed the public health department’s note shared at the state Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The data also stated that the state’s weekly positivity rate (till Monday) was lowest at 0.8% in the past three months. This was down from 1.02% for the week ending November 24.
Though 13 districts have a higher weekly positivity rate (WPR) than the state’s average, public health experts felt that it was an encouraging sign that the overall WPR was below 2%.

Among the districts with WPR higher than the state’s average were Pune (1.64%), Palghar (1.27%) and Aurangabad (1.24%). “This is the first time after many months that all the districts have registered a WPR below 2%. Besides, 22 districts have WPRs below the state’s average,” a state health official said.
The state has told all districts to double the number of tests following the emergence of the Omicron variant of the Sars Cov-2 virus.
A public health expert told TOI that it was important to keep a strict watch on the situation even if the current Omicron cases were mild in nature. The official said the emphasis should be on ramping up vaccination and testing.
A task force member said it was essential to follow all the Covid appropriate behaviour and ensure that there was enough testing, tracking, tracing and vaccination.
The cabinet note revealed that the tests were less than the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) norms in three districts — Amravati (72 per day per million), Buldhana (99 per day per million) and Yavatmal (114 per day per million).
The Centre had earlier pulled up the state as nine districts were registering tests below the WHO norms (140 tests per day per million population).
As many as 26 districts in the state have registered less than 100 cases in the week ending December 7. Among the revenue division, Konkan had the maximum active Covid cases. Konkan was followed by the Pune and Nashik divisions.