E-Paper
Nine fresh cases take Chandigarh count to 68
Covid-19 test positive rate (TPR) surpasses national average; Mohali records eight new infections; no case in Panchkula for nine days
For the fifth straight day, there was no respite in the rising number of Covid-19 cases in Chandigarh. On Wednesday, nine cases were reported, taking the Union Territory (UT) count to 68. In last five days, 40 infections have been detected in the city which account for 58% of the total cases.
With this spike, the test positivity rate (TPR) of city has surpassed the national rate. The national TPR stands at 4.12% as of 5pm on Wednesday while
Chandigarh’s is 6.7%. The TPR is ratio of positive cases to the number of tests conducted.
The patients include seven community contacts of the 30-year-old employee of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, who lives in Bapu Dham Colony, an 82-year-old woman from Sector 38 and a healthcare worker of GMCH-32, who live in the same locality.
Officials said among those carrying the infection are four women aged 19, 40, 51 and 65, all from a household in the congested Bapu Dham Colony in Sector 26. Two men aged 55 and 60 are from another household and a 20-year-old from the same colony.
A 79-year-old woman of Sector 38, Chandigarh, has also tested positive for coronavirus. The patient was taken in critical condition to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, on April 27 where she was found positive for Covid-19. Her source of infection is not yet known. Also, a 38-year-old male staffer of GMCH-32 who lives in Sector 32-C has been tested positive.
The source of the transmission is being cited a GMCH employee, who infected five of his family members, seven workplace contacts and 17 other community contacts.
Bapu Dham Colony and Sector 30 account for more than half the Covid-19 cases in the city, so far.
An estimated 60,000 people stay in Bapu Dham Colony that is spread over an area of 1 square km. There are about 2,500 small concrete houses occupied by low-income group residents.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Mohali recorded eight cases on Wednesday and five of them are Hazur Sahib pilgrims, while three are from district’s hotspot Jawaharpur. No case was reported from Panchkula on Wednesday, which is the ninth clean day in a row.
