Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has constituted a 40-member team of doctors to analyze the following COVID-19 Stats in Malegaon city – located 280 km north of Mumbai.
During the first wave of the pandemic, there was a huge spike in cases and a large number of deaths in Malegaon. In April 2020, it had recorded 580 deaths, almost double the number in the same month the previous year (277).
However, despite the low vaccination rate, cases are declining. There were only 35 active Covid-19 cases in the city till Thursday.
Malegaon Municipal Corporation commissioner Bhalchandra Gosavi said, “There were around 400 active cases at the peak of the second wave last April… Now the number is only 35.”
To understand the sharp change in the pattern of infection, last December, the Nashik district administration had written to Additional Chief Secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas requesting that tests be conducted to find out the reason for the very low number of active cases.
“We do not know how there was a huge drop in cases. This needs to be studied and analyzed scientifically, which can help in tackling the ongoing third wave,” said Dr Swapnil Torane, MUHS Register.
In a meeting between MUHS Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Dr Madhuri Kanitkar and the Nashik district administration, it was decided to conduct a study to find out the reasons for the low number of cases.
The 40-member team started collecting blood samples from Thursday. As per protocol, the team will collect blood samples of 2,000 to 2,500 people, which will be sent to the virology laboratory in Dhule, where antibody and ELISA tests will be done. “The samples will be collected randomly from different areas of the district. Then we will examine whether herd immunity has helped in containing the cases,” said Gosavi.
“In fact, the rate of compliance with the Covid-19 safety protocols is low in the city. Despite this, the infection rate is minimal in a city with more than 6 lakh people,” he said.
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