Coimbatore: For the second consecutive day, the number of new Covid cases across Coimbatore continues to fall below 150 mark and the fresh cases as on Tuesday stood at 146, according to the media bulletin released by the State health department.
Coimbatore: For the second consecutive day, the number of new Covid cases across Coimbatore continues to fall below 150 mark and the fresh cases as on Tuesday stood at 146, according to the media bulletin released by the State health department.
Massive crowds flouting Covid norms during the recent festivity along with political campaigns, meetings, rallies, protests, left the officials perplexed, who geared up for a second wave of Coronavirus in the district.
Contrary to the speculations, even after a week after Deepavali, new positive cases which was expected to surge in the district has further declined to 140 cases this Monday, the lowest since past few months. With 163 patients discharged on Monday, no deaths were reported
When asked about the current pattern of of Covid cases, Dean of Salem Government Hospital said, near-steady fresh cases since mid September may come to an end in the days to come as there are chances in increase in cases.
He added that it takes at least 28 days for them to confirm whether the near-steady in fresh cases continue to be on track or off the track.
A reliable sources in the health department here, on condition of anonymity, told that sufficient Covid-19 tests are being conducted in the districts And, those presenting with symptoms are 100 percent subjected to PCR testing. He rubbished the repeated allegations of low testing numbers.
However, questions raise amid people as to why Covid cases have not increased after the festive season even after a majority of the crowds had flouted Covid norms. Citing the hike in cases in Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat after the festive season, people here are not suspicious with the numbers reported and allege that enough tests are not being conducted.
Clarifying the allegations and throwing light on the post festive trend of Covid in the city, Raja, City Health Officer told that the testing rates in the district have not been ramped up, as the percentage continue to be on the same level,beven after the festive season. He said that the testing rate remains the same on 2,500 and may go up, only if there is any need.
He also confirmed that those who are in need of diagnostic tests are being offered without any delays, be it PCR testing or CT scans. According to him, there is no surge in new cases after the festive season. The situation remains the same. Revealing the results of the sero-survey conducted here to determine the prevalance of Coronavirus amid the people, he said that 25% of people in Coimbatore have been exposed to the virus, and added that with sero survey positivity rate at only 25% is not enough to come to a conclusion that people here have developed antibodies against the Covid-19.
According to a report on Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 50 to 90% of the people require immunity to achieve herd immunity, depending upon how contagious an infection is. However, it has also given the answer to how to achieve herd immunity with SARS-CoV-2 which suggests that a large proportion of the population either gets infected or gets a protective vaccine.
Seconding the City Health Officer's statement, Deans at both ESI and Coimbatore Medical College Hospital have also acknowledged that there is no surge in new Covid cases after the festivity and and the status remains the same.
Briefing on this, Nirmala, Dean of ESI hospital said at present, 130 Covid patients, most of them aged above 50 are under treatment at the hospital. There has been no surge after the festive season.
Health experts suggest that prolonged effort will be required to prevent major outbreaks in the future, until a vaccine is developed. In a worst case (for example, if we do not adhere to physical distancing or enact other measures to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2), the virus can infect masses in a matter of few months. This would overwhelm our hospitals and lead to high death rates. Hence, the best solution would be that we must maintain current levels of infection—or even reduce these levels—until a vaccine is available. Again, this can be achieved only through concerted efforts of the people, as some level of continued physical distancing for an extended period, likely a year or longer is required, before a highly effective vaccine can be developed, tested, and goes into mass production.
They say that the most likely case is somewhere in the middle, where infection rates rise and fall over time; we may relax social distancing measures when numbers of infections fall, and then may need to re-implement these measures as numbers increase again. Even then, SARS-CoV-2 could still infect children before they can be vaccinated or adults after their immunity fades.
However, they are certain that it is unlikely in the long term to witness another major outbreak, because by then much of the population would have become immune to the novel Coronavirus.