Second Covid surge anticipated, won’t lower guard: Chandigarh health department

A fresh campaign for Covid appropriate behaviour during festivals is also being launched

Suggesting that a second wave of Covid-19 was anticipated during the festive season, and considering high pollution levels and approaching winters, the UT health department has said that lowering the guard at this point can prove detrimental.

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The department has said that early identification of cases was key in preventing the second surge for which the testing was being made more accessible in dispensaries, for patients visiting the hospital OPDs and in religious places as well.

UT director of health services and family welfare, Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, said that the infection rate in the coming days will depend on a number of factors for which the department is making up the arrangements.

“The testing has to be more accessible at common points within the city. The mobile teams are visiting every nook and corner of the city and encouraging people to get tested. So the identification part is being catered to,” Dr Kang said.

She added on Tuesday more than 100 samples were collected in the temple in Sector 20 and all of them were tested negative. Similarly, around 205 patients who visited the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital Sector 16 for consultation with doctors were encouraged to undergo Covid-19 tests and 3 of them were found to be infected.

The department said that a fresh campaign for Covid appropriate behaviour during festivals was being launched. “1.5 lakh pamphlets will be distributed in houses which will be visited by the health staff during the upcoming polio drive. How people respond to the communication will show how the trajectory of cases is. Many other parts of the country have seen cases surging again and the best way to prevent it here is to follow the guidelines,” Dr Kang said.

Last month saw a major surge in infections, with the record being set on September 13 (449 cases); the highest number of active cases was reported on September 16 (3,171).

Though the number of cases started declining in the last four weeks, September alone accounted for 61% (7,266) of the cases reported between March 18 (first case) and September 30. Also, in comparison to the 41 deaths in August, Chandigarh witnessed 106 deaths in September.

To prevent fatalities, the department has ordered that the asymptomatic elderly and patients with comorbidities should be counselled for admission in hospitals instead of home isolation.

“The zonal heads under the health department have been directed to ensure that the patients are counselled and this category of patients are admitted to hospital and remain under constant medical examination. Similarly, those who choose to remain in home isolation, oximeters are provided to them and they check the vitals three times and communicate to the concerned in-charge,” Dr Kang added.