Spurt in COVID-19 cases worries Agra administration

Agra, June 29 (IANS) A fresh spurt in COVID-19 cases has sent alarming signals, forcing the Agra district administration to opt for pool sampling in 12 containment zones.

Officials said 37 teams were on the job and people in the containment zones were being thoroughly screened to stall community transmission.

The district health department officials are clearly worried at the trend although no deaths from Coronavirus were reported on Saturday and Sunday. The death toll stands at 85.

Agra added 14 new cases in the last 24 hours.

District Magistrate P.N. Singh said the total number of cases now was 1,210, of which 1,014 had been discharged after recovery.

In Mathura seven new cases were reported while Firozabad reported three and Mainpuri 10.

The biggest worry of the Agra district administration, for the moment is the indifference of the private sector medical infrastructure. The nursing homes were not admitting for treatment serious cases which were referred to the SN Medical College which was already burdened with a significantly large number of patients in the post-lockdown period.

On the basis of numerous complaints, officials said, "It is now clear that a large number of patients who could not get prompt treatment during the lockdown have become chronic."

Such patients are refused treatment by the private clinics, it was observed. To add to the agony, the exorbitant charges by the private hospitals are beyond the affordability limits of most patients.

Meanwhile, the rising crime graph in Unlock-1, in Agra zone has alarmed senior police officials. During the almost 100-day lockdown, the situation was generally under control, but now that people are able to freely move around and resume normal activities, we see a disturbing trend in crime figures, an official said. In 27 days of June, 39 murders were reported in Agra and Aligarh divisions of the Zone. Another alarming trend was the rise in the suicide numbers, for a variety of reasons, from failing in the examinations to failure in love affairs.