Two districts accounting for 85% of cases
Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 17
The COVID-19 case detection made a steady climb in Nagaland during the week. After the superspreader scare in Kohima on March 31, which hiked the weekly (March 27-April 2) to 132, it dropped to 27 cases the subsequent week.
However, the weekly tally crossed the 100-mark again as the state reported 118 cases this week (April 10-16) raising concerns that Nagaland could be in for a second wave. The cases were detected from 3074 samples returning a positivity rate of 3 percent from the week, as per the weekly COVID-19 roundup released by the State Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme on April 17.
The positivity rate for the State overall dropped below 9 percent for the first time in months to 8.9 percent but this could increase if the present trend of growing case detection persists over the coming days.
Another trend has been a marked increase in the detection of positive cases among inbound travelers over the past two weeks. In the weeks prior, detection of positive cases among travelers was negligible with traced contacts accounting for majority of the cases. This week’s tally included 35 travellers, 76 traced contacts, 4 armed forces personnel and 1 frontline worker.
For comparison, 7 of the 27 cases detected the previous week (April 3-9) were travelers.
New cases resurface in 4 other districts
Further, Dimapur and Kohima have accounted for the majority of the recent cases, while, Mokokchung, Longleng, Wokha and Phek saw the emergence of new cases after maintaining clean sheets for weeks. Overall, almost 85 percent of the total 12,536 cases officially registered in Nagaland since May 25, 2020 have been in Dimapur and Kohima. The positivity rate in Dimapur dropped to 11 from 12 percent but was well over the State average. It remained unchanged at 10 percent in Kohima, 3 percent in Mokokchung and at 2 percent in Longleng, Phek and Wokha.
Despite the high detection rate, there has not been a relative enhancement in tests. From the previous week’s figure of 68 tests per thousand population statewide, it increased to 69 tests per thousand only, this week. District-wise, it was 146 per thousand in Dimapur and 143 per thousand in Kohima. The testing rate for Mokokchung, Phek, Longleng and Wokha stood at 30, 20, 26 and 10 per thousand, respectively.
3 new deaths
As new cases make a steady rise, Nagaland reported three COVID-19 fatalities this week— 2 in Dimapur, 1 in Mokokchung— the first since February, taking the death toll to 94 (10 not COVID related). All three new fatalities were confirmed COVID-19 deaths, as per the IDSP data.
The death toll in Dimapur increased to 54 and 4 in Mokokchung. Other districts where confirmed COVID deaths have occurred are Kohima- 21, Wokha- 1, Kiphire- 1, Mon- 2 and Tuensang-1.
The weekly roundup came with a disclaimer, “For data reporting, Noklak is covered under Tuensang district as there is no separate surveillance unit yet for the district.” The fatality rate for the state was 0.67 percent against the national average of 1.2 percent.
The IDSP reiterated, “The CFR (Case Fatality Rate) among 45 years and above is high at 2.7% (60/2244) which is worrisome, and the median age of Covid deaths is 55 years (range: 24-90 years). This necessitates the need for urgent Vaccination before the second wave peaks.”
Country situation
As per the IDSP, India is reporting the highest number of new cases globally in recent times. It said that India reported more than 2 lakh daily cases for two consecutive days. Globally, it informed that cases continued to increase for the 7th consecutive week and deaths for the 4th consecutive week. The IDSP further reiterated the call for avoiding the ‘3 Cs’— Closed spaces, Crowded Places and Close contact settings, while adding, “Adequate ventilation in closed spaces is critical to reduce transmission in closed spaces.”
32 new cases; Active cases rise to 167
Meanwhile, 32 new COVID-19 cases on April 17 took the State’s tally of active cases to 167. According to an update from State Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom, 23 new cases were reported in Dimapur, 4 in Mokokchung, 3 in Kohima and 2 in Phek on Saturday. The total number of cases in the State is 12,536 while recovery tally is 12,102.
