Small cities can be new COVID-19 hubs; shore up testing, tracing: Docs

After exploding in most populous cities like Delhi and Mumbai Covid19 is now rearing up in large and small cities which experienced migration from these megapolises The concern rises as the concentration of health personnel and infrastructure is only limited to large urban centres and this is apparent in Delhis nextdoor neighbour Uttar Pradesh where many cities continue to struggle in tackling Covid19Doctors suggest since the epicentre of the viral infection is likely to shift it would be appropriate to replicate successful largescale testing and contact tracing models in small citiesFor example in Agra the state Health Department will conduct an extensive serosurvey to find the percentage of population with antibodies against Covid19 In the region Agra has reported 36 new cases in the past 24 hours Mathura reported 100 Firozabad 42 Mainpuri 31 Etah 31 and Kasganj 21 In Agra the total number of cases so far is 2481 and it has 152 containment zonesSpeaking to IANS Jyoti Goyal Head of Internal Medicine Nayati Medicity in Mathura noted Big cities like Delhi controlled Covid19 very well through robust testing Be it RTPCR antigen antibody tests Delhi has done testing widely On the contrary in Agra and Mathura testing is extremely restricted The authorities concerned have not evolved their strategy as Covid19 has evolved They need to replicate Delhis testing and contact tracing in small citiesAlso Read COVID19 Number Of Cases Is Just Over 10000 In MaharashtraJyoti added that against the backdrop of the ongoing rainy season healthcare workers in small cities may get confused whether an illness is Covid19 or any other form of tropical illness as he insisted on upgrading healthcare infrastructureUttar Pradesh with 182453 cases is also amongst the five mostaffected states by total tally accounting for 72 per cent fresh Covid19 cases The total number of cases in UP is 61 percent of the national burden and 2867 lives have been claimed by the infectionProfessor K Srinath Reddy President of the Public Health Foundation of India said as the large cities where the virus entered and spread first are recovering from the epidemic smaller cities and towns are becoming the zones of active infectionIf the initial experience of being relatively free from the virus leads to complacency and careless behaviour the virus will spread rapidly even in these areas We need to step up public health measures and motivate people to adopt safe practices like physical distancing avoiding crowded events using masks outside home and frequent hand washing Engaging local community networks and influencers will help in promoting safe behaviours he addedAlso Read Mumbra Slum Of Thane City Records Zero COVID19 Cases Sets ExampleOn testing Reddy said widescale testing may pose challenges however clinical assessment as well as history of close contact with a Covid19 affected person or history of recent travel from a highly infected region will help to assign high medium or low probabilities of the infectionBecause of false negatives and false positives associated with test results even laboratories advise that the diagnosis should not depend on testing alone but take into account clinical and contact information he addedWhile 769 cases were reported from state capital Lucknow there were 363 cases in Gorakhpur and 300 cases in Prayagraj as the state recorded 5375 infections on Saturday As many as 124274 samples were tested on Friday which took the total number of Covid19 tests done to over 44 lakhDeepak Dewan Director Renal Sciences at Regency Superspeciality Hospital in Lucknow said the number of Covid19 cases in Lucknow as compared to its close to 30 lakh population is extremely alarming and it is apparent that migration from big cities to small cities has contributed towards the spread of the infectionIn small cities people are not following infection prevention measures and social distancing guidelines If this continues then chances are very high that infection will like a wildfire in small cities A combination of largescale testing and contact tracing is the need of the hour he addedNeeraj Nischal Assistant Professor at Department of Medicine AIIMS added that diagnostic modality for Covid19 is RTPCR and antigen tests and as the testing capacity in the country is being upgraded it may be possible to replicate successful models of testing in small cities tooIt is essential to continue to diagnose as early as possible Test treat and trace all contact this will help in breaking the chain of infection transmission he addedKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability 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