Fear of community transmission in Nagaland

September 12, 2021 38 Views No Comment

DIMAPUR, SEP 12 (NPN) : After being hit hard by the second wave of Covid-19, Nagaland is likely experiencing widespread community transmission of the coronavirus.

The state Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) department has expressed serious concern that 75% of cases reported from the week were without any contact history signifying “high community transmission.”

In its weekly bulletin report released on Saturday, H&FW also stated that many cases from self-test were still not reported. The department said that 311 cases were detected (between September 4-10) out of 13,356 samples that were tested.

It may be mentioned that community transmission is evidenced by the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases, or by increasing positive tests through sentinel samples (routine systematic testing of respiratory samples from established laboratories).

This is particularly worrisome for health officials because that means the virus is in the community but no one knows where it has come from or can track its origins. This also suggests the virus is widespread in a community.

WSPR at 2.3%: The state’s weekly sample positivity rate (WSPR) stood at 2.3% as all districts reported sample positivity rate of less than 5% during the week, H&FW said, adding that the state’s weekly positivity rate has remained below 5% for the last 4 weeks.

Deaths/hospitalization: During the week (between September 4-10) eight Covid-19 deaths were reported– four in Dimapur, two in Kohima and one each in Kiphire and Peren.

Out of 60 Covid-19 hospital admissions from the week, Dimapur recorded the maximum cases at 34.

Stating that 70% of Covid-19 deaths were males, the department attributed it to higher prevalence of high-risk factors, more positive cases among males and possibly due to health seeking behavior.

Vaccination: A total of 46,324 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered in the week taking the total doses to 9.21 lakhs across the state (both first and second dose).

Though Covid-19 vaccination coverage increased from the past week, the department said that the exercise needed to be accelerated before the third wave hits the state.

State logs 39 cases, 2 deaths: Nagaland on Saturday reported 39 fresh cases while two more patients succumbed to the infection.

Of the fresh cases, 30 were recorded in Dimapur, three each in Kohima and Phek, two in Mokokchung and one in Wokha, taking the total caseload to 30594. With two more patients succumbing to the infection– one each in Dimapur and Kohima, the death toll rose to 636 (including 14 non-Covid deaths but with positivity).

PTI: India saw a single-day rise of 33,376 coronavirus infections, taking the overall tally of cases to 3,32,08,330, while the number of active cases increased marginally since Friday to stand at 3,91,516, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The death toll climbed to 4,42,317 with 308 daily fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The number of active cases have increased to 3,91,516, comprising 1.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.49 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 870 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. On Friday, the country had recoded 3,90,646 active cases.

Also, 15,92,135 tests were conducted Friday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for the detection of COVID-19 in the country to 54,01,96,989.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.10 per cent. It has been less than 3 per cent for the past 12 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.26 per cent. It has been below 3 per cent for the past 78 days, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease increased to 3,23,74,497, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent, the data showed.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide drive has crossed 73.05 crore, according to the ministry.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/fear-of-community-transmission-in-nagaland/240093.html