The decline in COVID-19 mortality and positivity rate continued in Mysuru during December even though the active case load did not witness a corresponding reduction during the period.
While the number of persons succumbing to COVID-19 came down from 41 during November to 16 during December and the positivity rate dipped from 2.11 during November to 1.13 during December, the active cases in Mysuru went up from 370 to 442. However, active cases were found to be very dynamic as their numbers fell to 318 on January 6.
Also, witnessing a substantial decline was the number of persons testing positive during December. A total of 1,699 people tested positive during December against 2,996 during November even though the number of tests conducted by the authorities in Mysuru went up from 1.41 lakh in November to almost 1.5 lakh during December.
Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Health Officer D.G. Nagaraju told The Hindu that a good percentage of the population in Mysuru may have developed immunity. He cited the findings of the sero surveys conducted across the State about three months ago to claim that a section of the population may have developed antibodies to fight the virus now.
Also, he said the hospitals and medical establishments Mysuru including the designated COVID-19 hospital, COVID-19 Care Centres as well as private hospitals were no longer enduring the the pressure they faced when cases peaked between August and October.
Experts, however, have warned that there was a possibility of a sudden surge of COVID-19 in the coming weeks by referring to the “second wave” sweeping many European countries. Hence, people have been cautioned to continue wearing a mask and maintain social distance to keep the virus at bay.
Testing
Chidambara, an official of the Health and Family Welfare Department in Mysuru, who is monitoring COVID-19 testing and training, said there has been no let up in the testing in the district despite the declining numbers. The number of tests had, in fact, increased during last week of December in view of the large number of teachers and students who had come forward for the tests ahead of the start of schools.
There was increased focus on surveillance, screening and testing in Mysuru as the district had become a hotspot for COVID-19 during August and September when the rate of positivity ranged between 20.9 and 22.85 per cent, which was among the highest in Karnataka. The present positivity rate of 1.13 per cent had come as a major relief to the people of Mysuru.
