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179 cases, Chandigarh tricity area’s another grim milestone
Mohali’s Covid-19 count tops 1,100 with highest spike of 68 cases; tricity’s tally reaches 3,262
With 179 new Covid-19 cases, the Chandigarh tricity area on Thursday recorded the sharpest spike in a day so far.
This last happened only a day before on Wednesday with 143 cases, reflecting no let-up in the spread of infection.
Mohali, with 68 fresh cases, also saw the steepest surge within 24 hours, which took the tally to 1,119.
This is also the highest number of Covid cases any of the tricity towns have recorded till now. Panchkula confirmed 65 cases on July 21, while Chandigarh’s highest count remains 64.
Since the very first case on March 18, the tricity’s Covid count has soared to 3,262 in four months, with 1,363 cases still active (42%). As many as 40 people have succumbed to the virus.
MOST MOHALI CASES FROM KHARAR
Among the 68 new cases in Mohali district, 25 are from Kharar sub-division, 21 from Dera Bassi and 22 from Mohali city.
Of the 1,119 confirmed cases, 625 patients have recovered and 17 have died. On Thursday, 26 patients were discharged, bringing down the active cases to 477.
Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan, who reviewed the status of the pandemic with the health department officials on Thursday, said the Covid spike management plan was prepared ahead of time and had now been put into action.
Under the plan, besides Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur, the Covid Care Centre (CCC) at Chandigarh University, Gharuan, has been started with 200 beds for asymptomatic patients. “Another 800 beds can be pressed into use if needed. Another CCC will be set up in Dera Bassi. Private hospitals have been put on alert and told to reserve more beds for isolation cases,” he said, adding that a dedicated facility had been set up at the Mohali civil hospital for Covid-positive pregnant women.
Besides the infrastructure upgrade, testing capacity has been enhanced. Antigen testing has been commenced, allowing availability of test results within 30 minutes. “Our target is to test at least 100 contacts of positive patients in a day to check the spread of virus,” the DC said. Another TrueNAT machine for detecting of coronavirus has been installed at Dera Bassi.
Besides this, a dedicated call centre will soon be started to provide quick medical consultancy to patients opting for home isolation. “Doctors from the centre will remain in touch with the patients. Video calling facility may also be extended to patients,” Dayalan added.
MC COUNCILLOR POSITIVE, FIRST CASE AT UT SECRETARIAT
An MC councillor, a UT Secretariat employee, a Chandigarh Traffic Police ASI, an employee of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, an attendant at the Employees Provident Fund Organisation and two healthcare workers were among the 57 fresh Covid-19 cases reported in Chandigarh on Thursday.
The case tally has climbed to 1,327, highest in the tricity, with the number of deaths being 20, also the topmost fatalities in the three towns.
On the bright side, a record 62 patients were discharged on Thursday, which took the number of people recovered to 777, leaving 529 active cases in the city.
Hardeep Singh, the MC councillor found positive, said he was feeling uneasy since Wednesday night, following which he went for Covid-19 testing and reported positive. “I am in isolation at my house and have no symptoms,” said Singh, a SAD leader and a former UT senior deputy mayor.
Singh had attended the function to commemorate the bhoomi pujan of Ram Temple in Ayodhya at the BJP headquarters on Wednesday.
As a precautionary measure, the BJP office in Sector 33 has been closed.
A UT official said as the UT Secretariat employee, a clerk in the finance department, was found positive – the first case at the building – his workplace on the fourth storey’s mezzanine floor will be sanitised and his close contacts will be tested.
The fourth floor houses offices of top UT officials, including the home secretary and finance secretary.
The employee’s father, who works in UT’s treasury office in Sector 17, has also tested positive.
The healthcare workers include a resident doctor at GMCH, Sector 32, and a hospital attendant at PGIMER.
As many as 28 fresh cases are contacts of positive cases, while a Sector-26 man, who returned from abroad recently, has also been found infected.
The remaining cases have been reported from Sectors 8, 19, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45 46 52 and 63, besides Manimajra, Ram Darbar, Dhanas, Bapu Dham Colony, Maloya and Burail.
In Sector 45, six from one family, and four from another family in Sector 41 have contracted the infection. A bank employee, who lives in Sector 43, has also been found infected.
While 50 patients were tested through RT-PCR, the remaining underwent Antigen tests.
PANCHKULA TALLY REACHES 816 WITH 54 CASES
Panchkula confirmed 54 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, 45 of them males.
Of the total 816 cases in the district now, 357 are active, while 456 patients have been discharged and three have died.
As many as 20 patients among the fresh cases are ITBP personnel aged between 30 and 42.
Eight new infections were reported from Raipur Rani, six from Kalka and four from Pinjore. Three patients each are from Sector 15 and Nawan Nagar, two each from Sector 7, Marranwala and Kishangarh, and one each from Sectors 8, 12, 25, and Billa village.
