Coronavirus outbreak: With more cases, Mohali ahead of Chandigarh even in testing

Chandigarh’s lower rate of testing is despite the fact that at least 25 per cent of the patients tested in the UT have turned out to be COVID-19 patients whereas only 20 per cent of those tested in Mohali have tested positive for the disease.

Coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19 cases, coronavirus cases, Mohali cases, Chandigarh cases, indian express news

Mohali district administration drew flak from the state government for having the most number of COVID-19 cases in Punjab after Jalandhar district. (Representaational)

Despite having a smaller population than Chandigarh, Mohali’s district administration has tested 504 more individuals for COVID-19 than the UT Administration has. Chandigarh’s lower rate of testing is despite the fact that at least 25 per cent of the patients tested in the UT have turned out to be COVID-19 patients whereas only 20 per cent of those tested in Mohali have tested positive for the disease. Furthermore, Mohali district has also conducted around 500 rapid anti-body tests whereas only nine rapid tests have been conducted in Chandigarh. As many as 80 frontline workers, including medical staff and police personnel, too were tested in Mohali.

Mohali district administration drew flak from the state government for having the most number of COVID-19 cases in Punjab after Jalandhar district. However, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan told The Indian Express that the high number of cases can be attributed to a high rate of testing and surveillance activities. “We are awaiting the results of 81 samples. On Saturday, our teams collected 72 samples. Our focus is on extensive sampling but a large number of reports turned out to be negative which is a good sign for us,” the DC added. A total of 80 frontline workers, including medical staff and police personnel, have also been tested in Mohali.

In Chandigarh, however, which has a population of around 11 lakh according the census of 2011, only 734 residents have been tested out of whom 29 tested positive as of Saturday night. In other words, 25 per cent of the sampled patients have tested positive for the disease. “Furthermore, many of these are residents of populous and congested neighbourhoods that can be potential cesspits of infection. Our surveillance activities need to increase,” says an epidemiologist from the city who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Chandigarh Administration has ceased use of rapid antibody testing kits, which, according to ICMR, have to primarily be utilised for screening and surveillance activities. According to Health Secretary Arun Kumar Gupta, the UT has ceased rapid testing since the ICMR has not lifted its ban on using such kits. “We tested nine until four days ago when ICMR asked us to stop using kits. We are going by those guidelines,” says Gupta.

Inefficient screening

The Director Health Service of Chandigarh Administration stated that more than 9 lakh individuals have been covered in door-to door screening. However, this screening process entails field workers going to houses and asking residents whether they have any symptoms of COVID-19. Furthermore, many patients in the city have tested positive for the disease even though they were not identified in these preliminary screenings. “Now they have given thermal scanners to use in places where positive cases have been identified, but we went through the same area before without the scanners and the positive patients were not identified because he was asymptomatic,” says an ANM screening Kachi colony at Dhanas, where a PGIMER employee tested positive.

The epidemiologist states that rapid testing kits should be used as well since most of the COVID-19 population is asymptomatic. “Even if these kits aren’t accurate, they give us an idea of which areas have a concentrated amount of cases, which allows us to implement stringent quarantine measures,” the epidemiologist adds.

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