At 5.3%, Chandigarh’s infection growth rate is twice the national average

After a person tests positive, we need to trace as many contacts as possible. This exercise is as important as having beds in hospitals to treat the patients. PROF RAJESH KUMAR, former head, Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER

CHANDIGARH: The average growth rate of Covid-19 infections in the city has shot up to 5.3%, which is almost double the national average of 2.8%, as per the data collected till August 12.

Chandigarh now stands at the third position among all the states and Union Territories in the country, coming only after Andaman and Nicobar Islands (8%) and Puducherry (5.6 %).

The average growth rate essentially means the speed at which infections increase. A calculation of average growth rate helps predict the expected number of infections in the coming days.

As per data, Chandigarh has added 700 cases to its tally in just two weeks of August. This is exponentially higher than the 605 cases recorded in the month of July.

TESTING RATE HAS INCREASED IN CITY

Meanwhile, the testing rate in UT has also increased with the introduction of the antigen testing method. In July, an average

of 199 tests were conducted in a day. This went up to 431 tests a day in August.

UT health secretary Arun Gupta said, “Testing is being gradually increased. The RT-PCR method is being used on an average of 300 persons while the remaining tests are being conducted through antigen testing. Antigen testing is being conducted only for asymptomatic contacts of positive persons. More kits are being procured by the health department.”

Prof Rajesh Kumar, former head of the department of the

Community Medicine and School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), said, “The outbreak in the unlocking period is on expected lines but there are strategies to bring things under control. In our case, we need to bring down the positivity rate (percentage of positive cases found among the total population tested), which is around 9% in UT. So, there is a need to test more people and isolate them.”

He added: “The simple thing is to trace as many contacts as possible of the positive persons. This exercise is as important as having beds in hospitals to treat patients. If a person tests positive, extensive contact tracing is the key to stop the outbreak. The number of contacts of a person will increase by over three times now as compared to the lockdown period. So, more resources are needed for tracking. Authorities need to zero down on every individual contact and categorise them into high and low-risk contacts and test them within five to seven days. These measures will bring the infection spread under control.”