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30 more succumb to Covid in Chandigarh tricity
This was only the third time that the number of fatalities touched this grim milestone; while as many people had died on May 9, the peak was recorded on May 5, with 38 deaths
Even as number of daily Covid-19 cases has seen a decline over the past one week, the pandemic continues to take its toll on the tricity, as 30 more patients succumbed to the virus on Sunday.
This was only the third time that the number of fatalities touched this grim milestone. While as many people had died on May 9, the peak was recorded on May 5, with 38 deaths.
The sudden surge comes a day after the tricity gave a sigh of relief as the number of deaths dropped to 19, and below 20 for the first time in a week.
While Mohali recorded 12 deaths on Sunday, 10 people died in Chandigarh, and eight in Panchkula, which is also its all-time high that was previously reported on May 12.
“The surge in fatalities is witnessed after the spike in cases. The patients who are critical tend to remain under hospitalisation for a longer duration. So, generally there is a difference of two weeks between the peak of cases and deaths,” said Dr VK Nagpal, joint director, Chandigarh health department.
Meanwhile, after registering a consistent drop in the number of cases from the peak of 2,612 on May 10 to 1,405 on May 15, the tricity recorded a slight uptick with 1,491 people testing positive. Chandigarh reported 664 cases, followed by 542 in Mohali and 285 in Panchkula.
Active case load drops to 18,505
With more people being cured and discharged than those testing positive, the active case load in the tricity dropped to 18,505 from 20,500 a day before.
In Chandigarh, 7,644 cases remain active, down from 7,847 on Saturday. Among the 10 dead, three were under the age of 60. The toll has reached 635, with 146 reported this month.
Of 55,367 people tested positive so far, 47,088 have recovered, including 857 discharged on Sunday.
Mohali district has reported 60,601 cases so far. Its death toll has climbed to 760, with 166 people succumbing in just 16 days this month as compared to 159 throughout April. All the 12 who died on Sunday were senior citizens with comorbidities, said the civil surgeon.
With 1,923 patients discharged on Sunday, the total has climbed to 51,123 while the active case load has dropped to 8,717 from 10,109 on Saturday.
In Panchkula, a 30-year-old man from Mirpur was among the eight dead. While five were above the age of 75, two were in the 45-55 age group. The toll has reached 285, with 78 dead this month. Of the 27,566 people tested positive so far, 24,867 have recovered. The number of active cases stands at 2,144, down from 2,544 on Saturday.
