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After plateauing in September, Covid-19 cases in Chandigarh on the rise again
Experts caution complacency during the festive season can invite second wave in no time.
After a noticeable drop in infections in September, the tricity is once again witnessing a spurt in Covid-19 cases with over 200 cases each being reported on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Not only the last week, even the number of cases over the past three weeks has been the highest in Chandigarh among the three cities.
Data by the UT health department shows that from the 316 cases between October 16 and 20, the number rose to 444 in the next week (October 23 to 29) and further to 502 in the last seven days since October 30 – a spike of 113%.
“This increase in cases can be attributed to the complacency on the part of residents, who are not following safety precautions, and the increased testing as well. On Wednesday, around 1,000 tests were conducted which returned 94 positive reports. The number of tests on Thursday was 1,500 and 96 people tested positive,” said UT health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta.
“With more people thronging public spaces in view of various festivals, chances of the infection rate growing further are high. Hence, lowering our guard at this point is risky. Following precautions, such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and keeping hands sanitised, is crucial at this point in time,” said Dr VK Nagpal, joint director, health, Chandigarh.
Dr Rajesh Kumar, former head of the community medicine department at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, said the first wave, which hit the region in September, did not have a widespread impact with respect to the proportion of population.
“Most of the population was not exposed to the virus due to the restrictions in place. Now, when every aspect of the economy has opened and the festive season is bringing crowds to public places, the precautions are going for a toss and cases are bound to increase. If around 30% of the population was infected so far, the remaining will also pick the virus in due course of time if precautions are not followed,” Dr Kumar warned.
In Panchkula, the cases have climbed from 150 between October 16 and 22 to 236 in the past week, while the number was 156 in the last week of October – a jump of 57% over the past three weeks.
“Yes, there is a steady increase in cases. With increasing crowds in the markets, irresponsible behaviour of people towards Covid-19 and the upcoming cold weather, the second surge is inevitable,” said Dr Jasjeet Kaur, civil surgeon, Panchkula.
Similarly, Mohali has also recorded a 53% surge in cases since October 16.
From 268 infections between October 16 and October 22, it reported 409 cases in the last seven days and 312 cases in the week preceding these.
However, the district’s civil surgeon Dr GB Singh said the cases being reported were scattered and there were no clusters. “Yet, residents should not be complacent with regards to the pandemic, as the threat still looms large. Adopting a careless attitude and not following precautions can be disastrous,” the civil surgeon warned.
207 test positive in tricity, two dead
A day after recording 203 cases after a considerable gap, the tricity reported another 207 Covid-19 infections on Thursday.
Chandigarh led with the most cases at 96, followed by 61 in Mohali and 50 in Panchkula.
Mohali and Panchkula also confirmed two Covid deaths, while there was no casualty in Chandigarh.
With the fresh cases, Chandigarh’s case tally climbed to 14,794, of which 703 patients are still infected. A total of 60 patients were discharged on Thursday, increasing the number of recoveries to 13,862. As many as 229 people have succumbed to the virus in the city.
In Mohali, the death toll rose to 242 with one more person losing the battle to Covid-19. Besides, the 61 new cases took the case tally to 12,659. As many as 49 cases were reported from Mohali urban, eight from Kharar, three from Dhakoli and one from Dera Bassi. Also, 39 patients recovered from the disease, bringing down the number of active patients to 594, while the recoveries increased to 11,823.
A 45-year-old man from Devinagar, who also had liver cirrhosis, died in Panchkula, taking the district’s death toll to 117.
Panchkula’s case tally stands at 7,314, of which 6,939 patients have been cured, leaving 258 active cases. Among the new cases on Thursday, 38 were reported from Panchkula urban, five from Pinjore, three from Kalka and one each from Hangola, Marranwala, Morni and Nanakpur.
Five residential areas sealed in Chandigarh
The Chandigarh administration on Thursday declared five new micro-containment zones in the city. The affected areas are House Number 1185 to 1198 and 3556 to 3561 in Sector 23; House Number 3514 to 3521 in Sector 38-D; House Number 5571 to 5579 in Sector 38 West; House Number 257 to 264 in Sector 41-A and House Number 278 to 283 in 45-A.
