Elderly woman is fifth Covid-19 casualty as Chandigarh crosses 300 mark in 76 days
Of the five Covid-19 deaths in the city so far, four were confirmed positive after the patient’s death
An 80-year-old woman from the containment zone of Sector 30 in Chandigarh who was declared brought dead at the Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, on Monday tested positive for coronavirus disease posthumously on Tuesday.
She is the city’s fifth fatality linked to Covid-19.
The development comes on the day the city crossed the mark of 300 infections, with three new cases being reported from the containment zone in Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26.
Out of the total 301 cases reported so far, 82 are active. Of these 225, ie 74%, are from Bapu Dham alone.
The three fresh cases are related to a woman who tested positive after delivering a baby at the Manimajra civil hospital recently. The family members include three males, aged 15, 35 and 40.
Tested after death
The Sector-30 woman’s samples were sent for testing after her death.
Doctors, who attended her, said she fell at her house on Monday after complaining of giddiness. This was followed by a bout of vomiting.
“Subsequently she was shifted to GMSH, Sector 16, in an ambulance. The deceased had co-morbid conditions of renal and liver disease, for which she took treatment at GMSH and the Kharar civil hospital in January 2020. She has two family contacts: her daughter-in-law and grandson. Both are asymptomatic and have been sampled,” said the UT spokesperson .
The house had also been surveyed by a team of health workers during a special drive in the area on May 31. At that time, the woman along with her two family members were found asymptomatic, said officials, adding that her samples have been sent again for testing for reconfirmation of her positive status.
Source of infection a mystery
Of the five Covid-19 fatalities in the city, four were confirmed positive after the patient’s death.
The source of infection has not been known in any of these cases, expect of a 62-year-old man of Bapu Dham Colony who tested positive posthumously at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, on May 9. He was a community contact of another patient in his locality.
Chandigarh reported its first death linked to the virus on May 3 when an 82-year-old woman, who was a resident of Sector 18 and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Panchkula, died.
On May 8, a man from Hallomajra tested positive for Covid-19, two days after his death at GMSH.
A three-day-old girl became the fourth fatality linked to the virus. After her birth at the civil hospital in Sector 22, she was reported to be brought dead at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research on May 23. She was found to be Covid-19 positive the next day. However, her parents, who belong to Dadumajra, tested negative.