Students, office-goers make for young Covid infections in GB Nagar

Over 50 per cent of the Covid-19 infected people in Gautam Buddh Nagar are between 21 years and 40 years, according to official data on the state government portal.

The number of Covid-19 cases in the district crossed the 4,000-mark on Saturday. Of this, 2,052 are in the 21-40 years age group, followed by 1,023 aged 40-60 years, which is almost 30 per cent of the total.

According to the data, the number of cases in the two high-risk age groups — 0-10 years and 60 plus years — is 113 (4 per cent) and 396 (10 per cent), respectively. 260 people belong to the 11-20 years age group, which is 6 per cent of the total.

However, as per officials, the data for 21-40 years age group is not surprising as they accounted for the largest chunk of people that started moving out once shops, offices and industries opened.

"This age group comprises office goers and students. After Unlock 1, they came out first, which led to a steady rise in the share of cases in this age group," a senior health official said.

The data also reveals the geographical distribution of the viral load. The Bisrakh area of the district accounted for 39 per cent of the cases. It's a high population density area, which has high-rises and urban villages.

The officials attributed the number of cases to the population density in the area.

The rural areas have done relatively well in keeping the count of coronavirus cases low. Dadri and Dankaur areas have a comparatively very low prevalence of cases. While Dadri accounts for 7 per cent, Dankaur, 9 per cent of the total cases.

The data also shows that geographical distribution of 38 per cent of the cases has not been determined.

According to officials, many people provided the wrong addresses. Many of them were found in places different from the one mentioned by them. "But all of them have been located and admitted to the health facilities," said an official from district surveillance team.

According to the data, 1,587 cases were reported from Bisrakh, 358 from Dankaur, 271 from Dadri, and 1,532 from other areas of the district..