Gurugram to ramp up testing

GURUGRAM: With an increase in the number of Covid cases being reported daily in Gurugram district, officials from the state health department on Thursday said testing will be stepped up in the district in the coming days and about 3,000 to 4,000 samples will be tested every day.

On Thursday, Gurugram reported 147 new Covid-19 cases and a positivity rate of 8.78%. A total of 1,672 samples were sent for testing in the past 24 hours, district health officials said.

Testing numbers were reduced to fewer than 1,500 samples a day in the district after Covid-related restrictions were lifted earlier this month. The government is also planning to deploy more staff on Covid response duty by moving them from other health programmes, officials said. Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary, health, said, “We are continuously monitoring the situation in Gurugram as cases are increasing. There is almost no hospitalisation in the district and cases are also not that high until now. I will visit the district on Friday to take stock of the situation and the measures to be taken will be decided accordingly. Meanwhile, testing will be ramped up in the district. We will go back to testing 3,000-4,000 samples daily.”

Vij directs ACS (health) to visit Gurugram

Haryana health minister Anil

Vij said he has directed additional chief secretary (health) Rajiv Arora to visit Gurugram and find out the reason behind the rise in infections.

“Arora has been told to check on sampling, particularly of the private labs, to verify if all cases are from Gurugram or other districts as well. The reason will only be clear once a report is submitted by him. Though the spike in cases is a matter of concern, the government is monitoring the situation closely,” the minister told HT on Thursday.