January last week spike in Nagpur district result of lax attitude, group tests

NAGPUR: After reporting 128 new Covid cases on January 25, which was the lowest daily number in last many weeks, Nagpur district constantly reported nearly 300 new cases per day in the last four days of January, causing concern about resurgence in infections.

The overall average daily cases had been below 300 since January 20 but the increase in cases in the last week shows that we cannot let our guard down, say experts.
When TOI closely tried to look for the reasons, it came to fore that persons from one family, one apartment or those living in close neighbourhood had tested positive together.
Group testing done for teachers and CRPF jawans too had contributed to increase in number of tests, and subsequently the number of new cases.
“My father suffered from fever and cough so he got himself tested. As he tested positive on January 23, remaining three members of our family also went for tests. All of us tested positive,” said 18-year-old Pawan. The very next day, their tenant Mayank, who lives in the same house, also tested positive.
Doctors said that family members and people in neighbourhood are testing positive because they must have been casual about observing physical distancing rules. “The fear about Covid-19 has almost gone now, and people have started becoming casual regarding physical distancing. Many of us don’t wear masks too. No one wears masks when at home,” said Dr Darshan Savkar, a general physician at Manewada.
“Many youngsters can get away with the infection on the basis of their immunity. But senior citizens and those above 50 years of age should must be careful,” said infectious disease specialist Dr Nitin Shinde.
According to doctors, those above 50 having comorbidities may develop post-Covid complications and lung infection even after recovering initially from the infection. The list of Covid-19 patients shows that over 60% patients in the last five days of January were under 50 years of age.
Also, as schools are going to reopen in February, the education department has made it mandatory for all teachers to get themselves tested for Covid-19. As a result, a large number of teachers started testing themselves after Republic Day.
Number of daily tests, which was under 3,500 until January 25, increased significantly after that. On January 28, a record 5,814 tests were done. Similarly, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans are getting themselves tested in large numbers in last four days.