Gurugram: After having seen its worst peak of the COVID-19 pandemic so far in November, almost at the same time Delhi was experiencing its third wave, Gurugram has now managed to stabilise its situation for the time being. From having a positivity rate of 16 per cent, the city has managed to now bring it to 5 per cent.
Acknowledging there was laxity by authorities during the festive season, the Gurugram District Administration strictly began penalising people who were found to not be wearing masks. Regulations were also imposed on banquet halls organising weddings with officials from Gurugram Police coming to these halls to monitor whether COVID -19 guidelines were being followed strictly or not. According to District Police, although no halls were sealed, more than 20 were fined for violating COVID-19 rules.
With a focus on RT-PCR testings, Gurugram, from November, began to conduct a large number of tests. From 3,000 samples being collected a day earlier, now the district is testing over 6,000 samples every day.
In a bid to encourage more people to come for RT-PCR testing, rates of these tests in private laboratories have further been reduced to Rs 700 by the Haryana Government.
As for how the situation worsened so quickly in the district, officials also admitted that they were falling abysmally behind in terms of contact tracing and that they were able to trace only three contacts per positive patient instead of the standard 10 per case.
According to official data, 54 per cent of patients that have been infected with COVID-19 are in the age category of 20-40. Among people who have died due to COVID-19 in Gurugram, this age category contributes to less than 8 percent. Patients in the age category of 61-70 contribute to 10 per cent of the total cases but account for 65 per cent of total fatalities in the district.