PANAJI: The state’s daily Covid-19 count between the first and second waves dipped to around 30 fresh cases a day before spiking earlier this year. Over the past few months, while daily infections have dropped below 150, the daily count has been hovering around the 80-100 mark.
“This could probably be the new baseline, and we will watch it for a few more months. We will have to wait for new guidelines from the central agencies as well as the WHO,” said state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar.
“In any epidemic, a plateau is reached when cases drop. While in a small set-up such as a village, even after an outbreak, cases will touch zero, but it is not the same when it comes to a pandemic, the plateau will remain for a longer time,” he said.
The state’s case positivity rate has been around 2% on most days for more than a month. As on Friday, the cumulative tally of Covid-19 cases is 1,76,515. While the lowest daily count last month was 29 on September 11, the drop in infections can be attributed to the beginning of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
‘No fresh outbreaks reported’
On September 12, as many as 38 cases were reported. After that superficial drop, the marginal rise was evident with cases between 80 and 100 reported daily.
While most centres are seeing fewer than 50 active cases, a few towns have been witnessing on-and-off flare-ups.
The urban health centre of Margao has continuously seen a rise in cases, with its caseload over 100. While the Panaji centre reports one to five fresh infections a day, its caseload has remained below 80 over the past month. Betodkar said that such trends will continue and that no fresh outbreaks have been reported in any parts of the state recently.
