Noida: Spike makes April worst Covid month this year

NOIDA: April has been the worst month so far this year in Gautam Budh Nagar as the Sars-CoV-2 virus spread in the district. The first six days of the month reported 485 cases, almost 81 cases a day, and two deaths.

The disease spread seemed to have been in control since December last year with no death reported since January 5.

With Uttar Pradesh not showing any signs of a lockdown till now, unlike Delhi and Maharashtra, district magistrate (DM) Suhas LY said the main aim of the administration was to reduce keep the case fatality rate (CFR) from rising, while simultaneously increasing testing.

“We are worried with this sudden surge in new cases this month. To check the spread, besides adapting the ‘track, test and treat’ methodology, we have also started focussing on contact tracing. A 10-member contact tracing team, on Tuesday, traced at least 25 primary and secondary contacts of 93 infected patients. The RT-PCR samples of all the contacts have been taken and the health officials will reason out the cause of sudden spike in active cases on the basis of their reports,” he said.

The DM said that besides proper sanitization in containment zones, they have begun thorough checking of industrial units. “Stern action will be taken against those commercial and industrial units disobeying standard Covid-19 protocol within their premises. This decision has been taken in view of the large number of workers coming from different areas,” he said.

He also said that the district administration has also issued advisories for factories and other industrial establishments to strictly follow safety protocols. “Six teams, with the help of district industries department, have been constituted to inspect whether safety protocols are being followed in workplaces and factories. During an inspection of different industrial units today, the district industry department officials found that Covid protocols are being violated in a biscuit factory. The ADM (sadar), who is also the incident commander of that area, has issued a show-cause to the factory owner. If the reply will not be satisfactory, action against the owner will be taken as per the provisions of Pandemic Act, 1997 and section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code,” Suhas said.

Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Deepak Ohri said daily testing has been increased and rapid antigen kit testing camps are being organised regularly at different places in the district. “The district has stepped up monitoring of patients in home isolation. The health department’s surveillance teams have started implementing stringent containment rules. Early hospitalisation of patients needing medical support and efficient infection control at health care facilities are our top priorities,” he said.

Ohri also said that 8,605 persons were vaccinated on Tuesday at altogether 85 inoculation centres in the district.