Covid cases spreading in Punjab at higher rate than national average

CHANDIGARH: With the spread of infection again picking pace in Punjab, the Covid-19 cases growth in the state has been nearly two times higher than the national average in recent weeks.
The state has been noting steady growth in cases since mid of June, pushing the weekly case count from 532 recorded between June12-18 to 1,233 in the week ending on July 9. The growth rate of cases last week compared to the week a fortnight ago in Punjab was nearly 50% against the national average of 25%.
In the past four weeks, a total of 3,845 individuals were tested positive for the virus, which happens to be the highest four-week count since February end.
Despite rise in cases, the percentage of hospitalisations among the infected individuals, however, remained under 3%. As per the bed management data as on 11 am on July 10, 97.26% of 12,815 Covid beds were vacant. Similar trend was noted during the third wave fuelled by the Omicron variant that started in Punjab in January 2022. The BA.2 sublineage of the Omicron variant continue to be the most commonly found variant in Punjab.
Even as there has been a rise in confirmed cases, containment zones have not been identified, even in the worst hit districts — Mohali, Ludhiana, Patiala and
Amritsar — from where the majority of daily cases are being reported. The trend points to new cases not coming in clusters.
Punjab Covid-19 nodal officer Dr Rajesh Bhaskar confirmed that the cases were not coming in clusters. “Containment zones are identified to break the cycle of transmission and is considered as one of the key containment measures. Activities in containment zones include testing, contact identification, listing, tracing, and clear entry and exit points to stop the spread outside the given area.”
Though the positivity rate in the state has jumped, the percentage of people testing positive in the state is still less than the all-India average. Experts have attributed the gap to low testing in Punjab.