The Haryana health department said it identified 11 new COVID-19 cases from the 356 samples tested in Gurgaon on Tuesday. The number of active cases in the district now stands at 61, with 35 patients having recovered so far this year from a cumulative of 96 cases.
Only one among Tuesday’s cases, involving a 31-year-old man residing at Sector 65, has a travel history to Thailand.
There have been no COVID-19 deaths yet in Haryana in the latest spread of cases, and all patients in Gurgaon are under home isolation. The health department had earlier stated that the situation was under control and that there was no cause for concern with the rise in symptomatic COVID-19 cases.
“All the pandemic-era precautionary measures and advisories, including mask-wearing, have been reissued and reiterated to hospitals. For now, we have made available 500 beds across isolation wards in government hospitals and other sites for any rise in serious cases. We will increase the number if and when the need arises. We have told hospitals to carry out tests for those showing symptoms. There is no reason to panic, the situation is well under control,” Dr Alka Singh, Chief Medical Officer, Gurgaon, told The Indian Express last month.
“It (COVID) is an endemic (disease) now. Many people with symptoms are likely to test positive,” Dr Singh had added.
Following a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, India too has seen fresh cases, with a majority of them being reported from Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. However, most of the cases are mild and not associated with severity or mortality.
Around the time the second wave of COVID-19 peaked in India, the Haryana government launched a door-to-door screening programme in rural areas across the state on May 15, 2021. By June 3 of that year, over 1.66 crore people had been screened, which was roughly 60 per cent of the state’s 2.91 crore population.
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In May 2021, the transmission rate of the disease was rapidly increasing in rural areas. A survey conducted by the state’s health department on COVID-19 patients admitted to various hospitals revealed that 68 per cent were from urban areas, while 32 per cent were from rural areas.
During the second wave, Haryana imposed a one-week lockdown on May 3, 2021), which was extended multiple times. However, as new cases continued to decline, the state government gradually relaxed various restrictions.