AHMEDABAD: On Saturday, the daily test positivity rate (TPR) in Gujarat for Covid-19 was 12.1% – crossing the 10% threshold after over five months. The data of ministry of health & family welfare indicated the weekly TPR of 10 out of 33 districts of Gujarat was over 5%. None of the districts were in the list on January 1 or a fortnight ago.
Ahmedabad topped with a TPR of 22.2%, followed by 15.7% in Vadodara, 13.6% in Surat, 11.5% in Bharuch and 10.2% in Gandhinagar districts. The figures include both city and district. Moreover, Rajkot, Navsari, Jamnagar, Anand and Bhavnagar had weekly TPR in range of 8.5% to 5.3%. On Sunday, Gujarat recorded 10,150 new cases. The daily death toll increased with eight on Sunday – two each from Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar cities, and one each from Vadodara city, and Tapi district.
On Sunday, several major temples in Gujarat announced closure on the account of rise in Covid cases. The Dwarkadheesh Temple or Jagat Mandir and Beyt Dwarka temple at Dwarka would remain closed from January 17 to 23. Shamlaji and Dakor would remain closed on January 17, the Purnima day, whereas Bahucharaji temple would remain closed till January 22.
Waiting time for RT-PCR test increases from 6 to 12 hours
Till mid-December, the majority of the RT-PCR tests carried out in the city-based labs were of the persons who were going abroad or were requiring it as the document for domestic travels.
The waiting time was about six to eight hours and the concentration of clientele was firmly based in the western city parts.
In less than a month, majority the private labs’ work load has doubled with the exponential rise in daily Covid cases. The result is rise in delivery time, which often goes beyond 12 hours. The samples are also received from across the city, whereas the age profile also ranges from toddlers to senior citizens.
Dr Mukesh Maheshwari, a city-based pathology laboratory owner, said that the number of daily tests has at least got doubled. “Thus, the response time has also got increased by a few hours. In some of the private labs, the test positivity rate (TPR) is higher than 35%,” he said. “As our representation to the government and civic bodies, more tests should be conducted overall, and more so in hotspots so that the new cases can be identified quickly and can be isolated.”
The Sunday data revealed that Ahmedabad district carried out 11,772 tests to find out 3,315 cases – 3,264 in city and 51 in rest of the district – giving the test positivity rate of 28.2%. In comparison, Gujarat’s TPR on Sunday was 10.5%.
The experts said that rise in awareness is one reason, and another is almost entire families testing positive. “We are now getting fewer instances where the tests are carried out only for one member of a family – once the symptoms are developed, several members can test positive. They can both be symptomatic or asymptomatic. We however recommend carrying out the tests once the person shows signs associated with the infection,” said a city-based pathologist.
Ahmedabad topped with a TPR of 22.2%, followed by 15.7% in Vadodara, 13.6% in Surat, 11.5% in Bharuch and 10.2% in Gandhinagar districts. The figures include both city and district. Moreover, Rajkot, Navsari, Jamnagar, Anand and Bhavnagar had weekly TPR in range of 8.5% to 5.3%. On Sunday, Gujarat recorded 10,150 new cases. The daily death toll increased with eight on Sunday – two each from Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar cities, and one each from Vadodara city, and Tapi district.
On Sunday, several major temples in Gujarat announced closure on the account of rise in Covid cases. The Dwarkadheesh Temple or Jagat Mandir and Beyt Dwarka temple at Dwarka would remain closed from January 17 to 23. Shamlaji and Dakor would remain closed on January 17, the Purnima day, whereas Bahucharaji temple would remain closed till January 22.
Waiting time for RT-PCR test increases from 6 to 12 hours
Till mid-December, the majority of the RT-PCR tests carried out in the city-based labs were of the persons who were going abroad or were requiring it as the document for domestic travels.
The waiting time was about six to eight hours and the concentration of clientele was firmly based in the western city parts.
In less than a month, majority the private labs’ work load has doubled with the exponential rise in daily Covid cases. The result is rise in delivery time, which often goes beyond 12 hours. The samples are also received from across the city, whereas the age profile also ranges from toddlers to senior citizens.
Dr Mukesh Maheshwari, a city-based pathology laboratory owner, said that the number of daily tests has at least got doubled. “Thus, the response time has also got increased by a few hours. In some of the private labs, the test positivity rate (TPR) is higher than 35%,” he said. “As our representation to the government and civic bodies, more tests should be conducted overall, and more so in hotspots so that the new cases can be identified quickly and can be isolated.”
The Sunday data revealed that Ahmedabad district carried out 11,772 tests to find out 3,315 cases – 3,264 in city and 51 in rest of the district – giving the test positivity rate of 28.2%. In comparison, Gujarat’s TPR on Sunday was 10.5%.
The experts said that rise in awareness is one reason, and another is almost entire families testing positive. “We are now getting fewer instances where the tests are carried out only for one member of a family – once the symptoms are developed, several members can test positive. They can both be symptomatic or asymptomatic. We however recommend carrying out the tests once the person shows signs associated with the infection,” said a city-based pathologist.
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