Weekly Covid-19 cases spike in Nagaland after 7 weeks

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, July 17 (EMN): Weekly Covid-19 cases in Nagaland increased for the first time in seven weeks as 689 fresh infections were recorded against 405 detected in the previous week, while deaths also increased from nine to 12 in the week ending July 16.

“The state remains yet again at an overly critical juncture,” stated the Health department in its weekly bulletin, adding that hospital admission had been constant for the last five weeks with 79 patients being admitted to Covid-19 hospitals in the past week alone.

The weekly sample positivity rate also increased to 8% (out 8373 samples tested) from 6% last week and four districts reported positivity rate of more than 10%. The update informed that Kohima recorded weekly positivity rate of 22%; Mokokchung 17%, Longleng 11%, and Kiphire 12%.

Superspreader event reported

The Health department informed that one superspreader event was reported from a funeral service in Mokokchung last week with 24 out of 46 contacts who attended it tested positive with a positivity rate of 57%.

“Superspreading events are the main drivers of this pandemic and maximum precautions should be taken to minimise them. Any social gathering is a high-risk event,” it cautioned.

It added that the people should strictly follow measures like limiting number of people as per state SOP (50 for funerals); double masking, physical distancing and hand washing; holding unavoidable services in an open space or an area with adequate natural ventilation; avoiding any gatherings to the extent possible; practicsing staggering of timings if visits are unavoidable; and ensuring high risk individuals to avoid any social gathering.

It also informed that 2090 people with ‘student’ as occupation had been tested positive for Covid-19 in the state this year.

2 out of 404 deaths fully vaccinated

Stressing on the need to ramp up immunisation, the Health department informed that 99.5% of Covid-19 deaths in Nagaland were not fully vaccinated

“From March 2021 till date, only 2 out of 404 Covid-19 deaths have been found to be fully vaccinated (2 weeks completed after second dose),” read the update, adding that “88% of deaths were not vaccinated even by a single dose and even among those who were vaccinated by a single dose, it is not determined yet if two weeks had passed after the vaccination”.

It said the Covid-19 vaccines targeted the most high-risk groups initially and the protection seen in real time even among the high risk groups was very significant.

“With the delta variant in circulation, it is highly advisable to get the second dose for full protection and remain very cautious till the full vaccination is completed,” it stated.

The department also informed that 6.60 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been administered across the state and 44% of eligible beneficiaries (18+ population) had received at least one dose.

“More than 70% of the population is still susceptible to Covid-19 infection and vaccination needs to be ramped up urgently along with strict maintenance of Covid-19 appropriate behaviours,” it stated.

For safe return to classrooms

With colleges and schools (classes 11 and 12) in the state being allowed to reopen from July 26 and August 2 respectively, provided the educational institutions meet the requirements set by the state, the Health department issued some measures to ensure safety return to classrooms.

It emphasised on the need to strictly adhere to ‘universal masking for staff and students matched by hand hygiene, physical distancing and adequate ventilation’. “Vaccination of teachers, non-teaching staff and eligible students should be prioritised,” it stated, while adding that level of community transmission in a district should be the key parameter to guide reopening of educational institutions.

It went on to suggest increase in testing, contact tracing within schools, and classroom routines redesigned to limit student interaction inside and outside the rooms.