On Wednesday, the air quality remained “bad” in Gurugram. (File)
New Delhi:
With increasing pollution levels in Gurugram and Noida, coronavirus cases have also increased. Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak and Bhiwani regions have seen a 10-20% increase in the daily number of COVID-19 cases since air quality began to deteriorate in Delhi and the capital region national (RCN).
On Wednesday, the Health Ministry admitted that the Covid-pollution connection applied not only to Delhi but also to NCR.
NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul said: “The virus does not respect geographies. It is a large urban conglomerate, so what is happening is on a continuum. There is no need to to differentiate. It’s the same ecosystem, the same environment and the same behavior. It shows that in this conglomerate, the situation is the same everywhere and the virus is still winning. “
Air quality deteriorated but remained “very poor” in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad as it continued to remain “poor” in Gurugram on Wednesday.
For three days, Gurugram has recorded nearly 500 cases of Covid daily against 350 on average in October and the administration expects a further increase. In Gurugram, the daily positivity rate is 13% while the national average is around 3%, which means that out of 100 people tested, there are three on average in India, while in Gurugram there are is 13.
On Wednesday, the Gurugram administration issued a special notice for the festival season.
According to the guidelines, “pooja or any partying “is prohibited in the containment zones, there should be staggered hours and restricted entry for all events in the non-containment zones and there should be the mandatory use of masks. also “strictly” advised for people over 60 with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children under 10 to “stay at home”.
However, Gurugram markets did not follow Covid guidelines. In the vegetable market, several traders have been seen without a mask in recent days.
Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri said: “We are running awareness campaigns to promote appropriate behavior at Covid. We have also established relationships with the RWAs on this matter. Apart from that, our police and municipal teams will also be touring the markets to ensure that all Covid rules are applied. “
He said the number of tests had also been kept high to control the spread of the disease. “We run between 3,000 and 3,500 tests per day and the majority of them are benchmark RT-PCR tests. This is what we plan to maintain. Per capita testing numbers have also been high.
Also in Noida, an increase in coronavirus cases is expected, officials said. Alok Kumar, Uttar Pradesh’s chief health secretary, said on Monday that administrations in Delhi’s neighboring districts had been urged to adhere strictly to Covid standards.
However, the popular 18 Atta sector market in Noida has seen high attendance due to the upcoming festival season and several people have been seen without a mask while many did not follow any social distancing guidelines.
According to the Noida administration, during the last peak in April, 42% of cases in Noida had contacts in Delhi. Private and public hospitals in Noida have been urged to increase the number of beds in ICUs.
Gautam Buddh Nagar district recorded its largest one-day peak of 331 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the district’s infection count to 18,679, according to official data.
According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board on Wednesday, PM10 levels at Delhi-NCR stood at 448 micrograms per cubic meter at 7 p.m., the highest this season so far. PM10 levels below 100 ug / m3 are considered safe in India. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida also recorded “severe” levels of air pollution.
Weather officials said the situation was likely to worsen as similar weather conditions are expected over the next two days.
