Random Sample Testing was conducted at various blocks under Wokha district by health care workers as preventive measures against the pandemic on September 8 and 9. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@ Chos_Rhts | Image for Representational purpose only)
‘Accelerating vaccination before third wave imperative’
Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 11
Nagaland reported 311 new COVID-19 cases during the week (September 4-10), the lowest weekly caseload since the second wave peaked in mid-May. However, an increased level of community spread has been observed, as per the State Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
In its weekly COVID roundup, released on September 11, the IDSP stated, “75 percent of cases reported from the week were without any contact history signifying high community transmission, while stating that many cases detected during ‘self-test’ are still not reported.
Furthermore, at 142 new cases, almost a half of the weekly caseload was from Dimapur, followed by Kohima- 65. The tally in all the other districts was below the 50 mark.
The positivity rate for the week was 2.3 percent. The IDSP added, “All districts have reported sample positivity rate of less than 5 percent and the state weekly positivity rate has remained below 5 percent for the last 4 weeks.”
Fatalities
There were 8 more deaths with 4 reported from Dimapur, 2 from Kohima and 1 each from Kiphire 1 and Peren. Further, 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths have been males. The IDSP attributed this to “higher prevalence of high-risk factors, more positive cases among males and also could be attributed to health(care) seeking behavior (HSB).”
The National Center for Biotechnology Information, USA, defines Healthcare seeking behaviour (HSB) as, “any action or inaction undertaken by individuals who perceive themselves to have a health problem or to be ill for the purpose of finding an appropriate remedy.”
There were 60 COVID-19 hospital admissions during the week with Dimapur, again, recording the maximum cases (34).
Pace up vaccination
A total of 46,324 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered during the week taking the total doses to 9.21 lakh across the state. The total was inclusive of 2,52,579 doses of the second shot, which implied that over two and a half lakh people in Nagaland has been fully vaccinated.
According to the IDSP, the pace of vaccination increased during the week “but needs to be accelerated before the third wave hits the state.”
Case distribution
The IDSP further informed that the proportion of cases among the 11–20 year-age groups has increased from 8 percent in 2020 to 13 percent in 2021, while a decrease in proportion of cases in the 21-30 and 31-40 year-age groups has been observed. The decrease in proportion in the latter categories “could also be due to targeted testing among returnees in 2020,” it said.
Gender-wise, proportion of confirmed cases among females increased from 22 percent in 2020 to 41 percent in 2021.
Recoveries
For the fourth week straight, the state recorded more recoveries than new detection of cases. The total of recoveries for the week was 384. Dimapur reported the highest number (132) of patients recovering, followed by Mokokchung- 80, Kohima- 79, Zunheboto- 25, Phek- 21, Wokha- 19, Mon- 11, Longleng and Kiphire- 6 each, Tuensang- 4 and Peren- 1.
