DEHRADUN: A 94% rise in new coronavirus cases in Uttarakhand in week 72 (July 25-31) in comparison to week 71 (July 18-24) has set alarm bells ringing.
In week 71 total active cases in the hill state stood 240 which rose to 466 in week 72.
Experts point out that 10 states are already reeling under rise of cases including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram and it is time for Uttarakhand to move ahead in a cautious manner.
It has been 72 weeks on July 31, 2021 since the first Covid-19 case surfaced in Uttarakhand on March 15, 2020.
Anoop Nautiyal, founder of Social Development for Communities Foundation which has been analyzing Covid-19 data since the beginning of the pandemic in the state in March 2020 said, "We need to exercise utmost caution as any lacklustre attitude can bring upon a disaster. We should never forget how second wave caught us off guard and we were grappling for oxygen, beds and medicines."
Active cases in Uttarakhand till Sunday stood at 609 with a sample positivity of 0.10% and a recovery rate of 95.91%. With 22 new cases on Sunday, the total number of positive cases detected to date reached 3,42,161.
Last week, it was revealed through genome sequencing reports of samples from the month of April and May that the Delta variant of Covid 19 virus was active in the state as the second wave kicked off while the Mahakumbh was going on in Haridwar.
The number of active cases registered over 2600% increase in active cases from March 31 to April 30, 2021 making the Mahakumbh more of a 'Super Spreader' Covid event than a traditional religious congregation.
Prior to the mega religious event total number of active cases in the hill state stood at 1863 on March 31. On April 30, on the day Kumbh officially concluded the number of active cases reached 49492.
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