Visakhapatnam, July 22, 2021: The Covid-19 weekly case positivity rate has finally dropped to below 5% in all districts of the state for the first time in months during the ongoing second wave. Even last week, when Andhra Pradesh’s average weekly positivity rate stood at 3.2%, East Godavari and West Godavari had crossed the 5% positivity rate threshold.
As per the latest weekly case positivity rate statistics between July 12 and 18, Kurnool has the lowest case positivity rate among all districts at 0.74%. In all, Anantapur, Kurnool, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram have a less than 2% weekly case positivity rate. While the weekly positivity rate ranges between 3% and 5% in five districts, eight districts have a positivity rate less than 3%.
The case positivity rate is a key indicator to gauge the spread of the disease in the community at a certain point in time. The World Health Organisation (WHO), in an advisory released in May last year, stated that less than 5% samples testing positive for Covid-19, at least for two weeks, is an indicator that the disease is under control according to the reports published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
The daily positivity rate had peaked to 25.6% on May 16 before it started to witness some improvement. It has remained under 5% for at least the last one month. But some districts, such as East Godavari, West Godavari, and Chittoor remained a challenge even after considerable improvement in other districts. Particularly, the twin Godavari districts posed a big challenge to officials.
Corresponding with the lowering case positivity rate, the daily new infection numbers have now dropped to about the 2,000 to 3,000 range from the peak of 24,171 cases on May 16. But districts such as East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Chittoor still continue to contribute a major chunk of the daily infection numbers. This can be gauged from the fact that while the state’s cumulative case positivity rate stood at 8.22% as of July 18, it is as much as 12.43% in East Godavari, 9.88% in Chittoor and 8.59% in West Godavari.
Despite the fall in case positivity rate, the state health department is augmenting infrastructure at all hospitals in its preparation for the anticipated third wave. A special focus has been laid on improving infrastructure to treat paediatric Covid-19 cases based on the assumptions of several experts and reports that the third wave may hit children.
