DEHRADUN: In a trend that will be worrying the health authorities in Uttarakhand, the Covid infection rate registered in the hill districts are over six times more than plain areas and more than twice the average infection rate of the state, which stood at 3.80% for the period November 25-December 9.
Analysts said such a high infection rate in the hills when the winter has just begun should ring alarm bells in the government.
“If Covid proliferates dangerously in the remote hills, it could be a disaster for Uttarakhand,” said Anoop Nautiyal of Social Development for Communities Foundation, which analysed the data.
The highest infection rate of 7.93% for the fortnight beginning November 25 was reported in the hill district of Almora.
Udham Singh Nagar district in the plains reported the lowest rate of 1.28%. Among the 10 hill districts, Champawat was an exception with the second lowest infection rate at 1.57% while Dehradun was an exception among the plain districts, reporting the third highest infection rate at 6.26%.
Earlier, the data had revealed that nearly half of the total Covid deaths in Uttarakhand had taken place in the last two months.
On October 4, over six months after the outbreak, the toll was 652 which has now spiked to 1,332.
According to the data till November, of the total 80,486 Covid cases, Dehradun was at the top with about 36% of the total.