Cases have plateaued, focus now on vulnerable groups: Rajeev Arora

Additional chief secretary, health, Haryana, says testing has not gone down much as the government is still testing about 25,000 people daily

How do you analyse the dip in coronavirus infection in the state?

The surge in infection is followed by a stage of plateauing and decline. It’s a global and national phenomenon.

Is the infection dip related to decreased testing?

Not really. The testing actually has not decreased much. We are still testing about 25,000 people daily which is almost the same as in September and much higher than July and August.

But why there’s variation in testing?

With a reduction in the infections, the numbers of primary and secondary contacts of the infected patients have also declined. Thus, one sees a variation in sampling.

So, how would you go about increasing the sampling?

We are now focusing on groups who are more vulnerable to Covid-19 exposure, such as frontline workers, school teachers, industrial workers, people in commercial establishments and frequent travellers. See, we have been in favour of opening up economic activity right from the beginning and will continue with this policy as per the central government guidelines.

Are you worried about a second wave during or after festival season?

The propensity of people to lower their guard and shun safety measures is more during festivities. It all depends on human behaviour. Also, resumption of more activities like the opening of educational institutions, cinemas, multiplexes, entertainment parks, allowing social, religious and political congregations will contribute to the infection rate. That’s why we are focusing on these groups for targeted testing.