Haryana sees 13 deaths, 560 new cases
4,750 active cases now; tests to be conducted in all districts to examine community prevalence of Covid-19
CHANDIGARH: Thirteen people suffering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) lost their lives in Haryana on Wednesday even as the infection spread among 560 people of 17 districts in the past 24 hours.
Until Wednesday, the virus claimed lives of 130 people — Gurugram (51), Faridabad (43) and Sonepat (9) — in Haryana and infected 8,832 people.
Of the 13 fatalities, five each were reported from worst-hit Gurugram and Faridabad districts, while two were registered in Sonepat and one in Karnal.
On Tuesday, 18 patients had succumbed to the disease, while the toll was 12 on Monday.
According to the health bulletin, Faridabad logged the maximum (228) fresh cases of Covwith id-19 followed by Gurugram (180) and Sonepat (37) on Wednesday as Haryana continued with the trend of sharpest single-day surge in new infections.
Kaithal, Charkhi Dadri, Rohtak,
Mahendergarh and Nuh districts didn’t record any fresh case on Wednesday, the bulletin stated.
Other districts where new infections were detected include
Jhajjar (9), Ambala (4), Palwal (16), Panipat (4), Panchkula (2), Jind (6), Karnal (16), Yamunanagar (15), Sirsa (2), Fatehabad (4), Bhiwani (5), Hisar (19), Rewari (8) and Kurukshetra (5).
While there are 4,750 active cases in the state, 204 patients got discharged on Wednesday, taking the tally of those recovered to 3,952.
The health bulletin stated that 51 patients, including 14 on ventilators, were critical.
Besides the death of a 67-yearold man in Karnal, the third fatality due to the virus, the district also witnessed the biggest spike in Covid-19 cases in a day
as 19 new infections. Karnal has so far witnessed 181 cases, 121 of which are active. Karnal DC Nishant Kumar Yadav said seven infected people had come from Delhi and eight returned from Gurugram, while one had a travel history to J&K.
Five persons tested positive for Covid-19 in Jhajjar, three in Jind, 20 in Bhiwani and 17 in Rohtak, local administrations confirmed.
‘COVID KAVACH ELISA’
Health minister Anil Vij said a serosurvey will be conducted in all districts of the state for a test named ‘Covid Kavach Elisa’.
Serosurvey is a collection and testing of serum specimens from a sample of a defined population over a specified period of time to estimate the prevalence of antibodies against a given specific infectious pathogen as an indicator of immunity.
Haryana is among the selected states for conducting this type of investigation, Vij said, pointing out that this test would identify the antibodies being produced in the body to combat the infection.
He said in the initial phase, this survey will be conducted in NCR, hotspots and high-risk areas. Among them, priority will be given to screening of doctors, nursing staff, paramedical staff, police and other frontline workers of NCR districts.
Haryana Medical Services Corporation MD Dr Saket Kumar said the entire cost of testing will be borne by the government. “The test kit has been developed by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune and is completely indigenous. It has been used in 83 hotspot districts of the country,” he added.
THE STATE HAS SO FAR
REPORTED 130 DEATHS, OF WHICH THE MAXIMUM WERE FROM GURUGRAM