80-year-old man from Sector 16 becomes Chandigarh’s seventh Covid-19 fatality

Loses battle to virus after a month, had contracted disease from son who runs a pharmacy.

An 80-year-old man succumbed to Covid-19 after battling it for nearly a month, taking the death toll in Chandigarh to seven, on Tuesday.

Of the other six fatalities in the city, four were senior citizens and one a three-day-old girl.(File Photo)

A resident of Sector 16, he had contracted the infection from his son, who runs a pharmacy in the same sector, and was admitted to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on June 11. A hypertension patient, he was having difficulty in breathing and fever at that time.

In the PGIMER release, the cause of death was stated to be: “Cardio respiratory arrest, septic shock, pneumonia, hypertension and Covid-19.”

Of the six fatalities earlier, four were senior citizens while one a three-day-old girl.

Dr Pankaj Malhotra of the department of internal medicine said: “Patients with uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled blood pressure, obesity and cardiac problems are at higher risk. Covid-19 disease affects organs of the body and aggravates the manifestations.”

Five more contract disease

Meanwhile, five more people tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, taking the number of confirmed cases to 492. As many as 84 of these remain active.

Among those found infected are two family members of a doctor of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, who had tested positive earlier. Both are females, aged 14 and 49.

A 35-year-old woman from Sector 40 and a 55-year-old resident of Sector 51 have also tested positive. The woman is a contact of a case reported in Sector 50 earlier.

Police post, HC sections closed

The last case is of a 24-year-old son a of a senior constable. The police post of Sector 61, where the cop is posted, has been closed for two days for sanitisation. About 80% of its 55 staffers have also been quarantined.

The Punjab and Haryana high court has also temporarily closed seven sections of its administrative unit after the husband of an employee tested positive. The employee will also undergo Covid test besides another male employee who has been hospitalised after complaining of fever, stated a release.