Centre expresses concern over Chandigarh’s coronavirus surge
Lists it among eight states and UTs that have caused exponential increase in the country’s active cases
The Union health ministry on Wednesday listed Chandigarh among eight states and union territories that have caused an exponential increase in the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country, on a day when the city reported 249 fresh infections, the highest this year.
While reviewing the Covid-19 situation in the country, the Union health ministry highlighted Maharashtra and Punjab as areas of “grave concern”, with Mohali figuring among the districts with the second-highest active cases in the state.
Others figuring on the ministry’s list were Tamil Nadu, which is reporting 2,000 cases daily, Gujarat with around 1,700 cases daily, and Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh with nearly 1,500 each. Similarly, Karnataka is reporting 1,400 cases.
Speaking at a press briefing, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said Chandigarh was also an area of concern as the daily number of cases that had decreased below 100 had shown resurgence at a fast pace.
471% spike in active cases this month
In the last 24 days, UT has added 3,360 cases in its Covid tally, pushing the number of active cases from 381 on March 1 to 2,178 on March 24 – a jump of 471%.
The city’s weekly positivity rate has also soared to 10%, which is the second-highest in the country after Maharashtra (21.4%). The national average stands at 4.1%.
The total case tally stands at 25,130, while 365 fatalities have been reported.
Last week, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said the rise in cases in the Chandigarh tricity area was worrisome.
“The more transmissible variant of the virus has been found in Punjab and there is a possibility that the same variant is causing infection spread in Chandigarh, as there is a huge movement of people between the city and Punjab,” said Dr Amandeep Kang, director, health services, UT.
In a meeting with UT authorities last week, the Centre had directed them to increase the ratio of RT-PCR testing, following which the private labs were roped in due to limited facility at government centres.
Dr Kang said the contact tracing exercise had been strengthened and they were trying to test every contact through the RT-PCR testing method.