Gurugram, Faridabad record 44% of Covid tests in Haryana, account for most cases too

GURUGRAM: Haryana has been reporting more than 350 new Covid cases on an average in the last one week. A major chunk of cases is from Gurugram and Faridabad, as these two districts have carried out the maximum tests in the state (44%) in this period.

Hospitalisations continue to be low in the state — Haryana has 29 patients undergoing treatment in hospitals at present, of which 12 are in Gurugram , six in Faridabad and the rest in other districts.
According to health department data, 32% of the 85,000 tests conducted in the state from June 8 and 14 were carried out in Gurugram (27,256 tests), while Faridabad’s share was 12% (10,228). The data shows an uneven trend in testing across Haryana — several districts are reporting zero cases a day as they are way behind in testing compared to Gurugram .
In the last seven days, Haryana has added 2,465 Covid cases, out of which 85% were from Gurugram (1,688) and Faridabad (409). Gurugram has carried out nearly 3,800 tests every day in this period, whereas nearby districts have carried out around 150 tests. For instance, Hisar, which has the maximum Covid fatalities in the state so far, conducted 1,196 tests (around 170 a day).
Nuh has carried out the least tests in Haryana in the last week — just 755 (107 tests a day) — followed by Fatehabad (189 a day). A similar trend was observed in other districts. Charkhi Dadri carried out 1,466 tests between June 8 and 14 (209 a day), while Jind collected 1,936 samples for testing (276 a day) and Kaithal 4,258 (608 a day.) It seems like these districts have lowered testing to reduce the number of new cases — all these districts reported a total of less than 10 cases in the last seven days.
“To isolate those infected with the virus, we are increasing testing. We are conducting more than 4,000 tests per day across Gurugram and will soon increase it to 5,000 daily,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram .
Asked about the lag in testing in other districts, Dr Dhruv Chaudhary, the nodal officer for Covid in Haryana and the head of the department of pulmonary and critical care at PGIMS (Rohtak), said: “We have informed all districts to increase testing and have asked them to be prepared as the number of cases are likely to increase.”
Meanwhile, doctors at Gurugram hospitals where Covid patients are being treated said the infection rate is rising and most of them have mild symptoms similar to other viral infections. “We have observed an increase in the number of Covid cases in our OPDs. As the symptoms are not very severe, they are being advised home isolation,” said Dr Sushila Kataria, senior director (internal medicine), Medanta — The Medicity.