Punjab Covid positivity rate lowest in months

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11

After staying over 10 per cent in May, Punjab’s weekly Covid test positivity rate has now fallen to under 0.5 per cent.

In the past one week, 2.91 lakh samples were collected, of which only 1,233 turned out positive for Covid-19, taking last week’s positivity rate to 0.42 per cent.

The rate remained between 1 and 2 per cent during January and February, but started increasing thereafter. In the second week of May, it peaked, hitting 22 per cent on May 10. Since then, there has been a gradual decline. On Saturday, the state reported just 0.30 per cent positivity rate.

During the second wave, the rate consistently remained over 10 per cent. In May, the state’s overall rate regularly touched 15 per cent.

The situation was especially worrying in SAS Nagar, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Fazilka, Mansa and Muktsar districts, where the rate was over 15 per cent. According to experts, positivity rate was an important indicator as it helped understand the quantum of infection spread in the society.

The daily confirmed cases averaged 175 last week and the daily average of samples stood at 42,000. Besides, the number of daily deaths has come down significantly, with just 50 casualties being reported in the past one week.