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Dimapur, Jan. 2 (EMN): Nagaland has been witnessing a decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks, with only two deaths and 34 cases being reported in the week ending January 1, but the Heath department has stated that “caution should be exercised in interpreting the data as testing has decreased significantly during the same period”.
The weekly bulletin issued by the department of Health and Family Welfare informed that out of the 34 confirmed cases detected last week, 24 were traced contacts, armed forces/ security-2, travellers-7 and frontline workers-1.
‘Among the traced contacts, the most affected age group is 21-30 years at 25% and 31-40 years at equal 25%. Among them, 61% is male,’ read the update, adding that “the uncontrolled spread among the age group of 21-40 years is increasing risk in the higher age groups”.
“Positivity rate among household contacts 29% continue to remain more than the office goers at 23% and 19% among students. The positivity rate among symptomatics/ pre-op screening/ travel purposes coming to Flu clinics continue to remain high at 14% which is worrisome,” it stated, adding that the trend clearly points towards ‘living room and closed space spread’.
The update informed that 63% of Covid-19 deaths in the state are below 60 years of age with the most affected age groups being 40-49 and 30-39 years. It added that diabetes and hypertension are the most commonly associated comorbidities.
“28% of Covid deaths were within 48 hours of admission to a Covid-19 hospital pointing towards late arrival with advanced stages of the disease,” it stated. “Increase in Covid-19 hospital admissions signifies increase in moderate, severe and critical cases and undetected transmission in the community.”
The recovery rate in the state stands at 96% while mortality rate of 0.58% is lower than the national average of 1.45%. Sample positivity rate for December is still high at 10% but has declined from 15.5% in October, informed the update.
The Health department also stressed on the need for testing and isolation of symptomatic travellers and contacts, even with mild flu like symptoms, after the festive season; and anyone with Covid-like symptoms to strictly avoid public spaces and offices.
The SARS-COV-2 Variant detected initially in South East England continues to be detected in many countries including India where around 29 cases have been found and a similar strain with the same mutations has been found in South Africa through genomic analysis, updated the Health department.
It informed that mutations in virus are expected and natural, and it is not the first-time mutations have been detected in the SARS-COV-2 but the new variants are concerning due to higher rates of transmission and its ability to infect children and younger age groups.
“The more we allow it to spread, the more opportunity it has to change /mutate. This brings us back to the importance of basic safety and containment measures,” it stated. It added that there is no evidence of the new variant causing more severity or mortality and unlikely to affect efficacy of the vaccines.