Chandigarh adds 256 Covid deaths to its tally

With this, the Covid death tally of Chandigarh jumped from 820 to 1,076, surpassing the figures of Mohali (1,073) and Panchkula (379).

The Chandigarh health department on Thursday added 256 Covid fatalities to its tally, while stating that the data has been reconciled after matching the figures from the cremation ground. With this, the toll of Chandigarh jumped from 820 to 1,076, surpassing the figures of Mohali (1,073) and Panchkula (379).

In April this year, Hindustan Times had reported the ‘mismatched’ death tallies of the Chandigarh health department and cremation ground. (HT Photo)

“The health department was reconciling the figure of Covid-19 deaths with the record maintained at the cremation ground. During the process of reconciliation, it was observed that there was a mismatch of 359 deaths. On the forms of 359 deceased, the cremation ground had mentioned Covid-19 as the cause of death, but there no Covid confirmation certificates from hospitals. The UT government or private hospitals didn’t have any records of these people,” said UT health secretary Yashpal Garg.

These 359 people had died since the pandemic broke out in March 2020.

Garg added, “The health department then contacted the families of each of these persons and it was found that 256 deaths, of the 359, were actually the deaths due to the virus, in accordance with the existing guidelines. Also, 22 deaths, which are mentioned as Covid death at cremation ground, could not be proved as there is no document about Covid positivity. However, the remaining 81 deaths either relate to residents of other states or their addresses are incorrect or could not be traced.”

It was observed that most of the people, out of the remaining 81, were from neighbouring states, including Punjab and Haryana.

Thus, the number of deaths of residents of UT Chandigarh due to Covid-19 will be treated as 1,076 instead of 820, the health department said, adding that the data of these 256 deaths is being added on the portal of the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

The health department is still contacting the families of 103 deceased people, (22 people who had no Covid positive report and 81 people with links from other states or remained untraceable). The data is also being shared with the concerned state governments.

The UT health secretary also informed that families of these 256 deceased people are now eligible for ex-gratia of ₹50,000 each, which is being given to the next kin of the deceased in accordance with the guidelines of the Union government and Supreme Court.

In April this year, Hindustan Times had reported the ‘mismatched’ death tallies of the health department and cremation ground. As per HT’s reports in April, the health department’s official numbers indicated 42 Covid deaths in Chandigarh, but the cremation grounds in the city said the number is as high as 70.

In April this year, the tricity had reported 43,068 Covid cases besides 311 fatalities. With 46,245 cases and 790 deaths, May 2021 had proved to be the deadliest for the tricity since the pandemic began in March last year. But following the restrictions on public movement and businesses, the curve started going down.

29 kin of Covid-19 deceased get ex-gratia

Chandigarh administration received 138 applications for ex gratia assistance as minimum standard relief of ₹50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased who died due to Covid 19. Of them, 29 applicants have got their claim of total ₹14,50,000 via direct benefit transfer mode. Rest of the applications are under process for release of payment.

The claimants can submit their application through a form to the sub-divisional magistrate along with specified documents, including a death certificate, certifying the cause of death due to Covid.

The claimants can download the application form online from chandigarhdistrict.nic.in

19 more test positive in tricity

As many as 19 fresh infections of Covid-19 were reported in the tricity on Thursday, with Mohali recording 12 of them. Four cases were reported from Chandigarh and three from Panchkula. On Wednesday, the tricity’s daily tally was 22. No death was reported on the day, but UT health department had added a backlog of 256 Covid-related deaths. Tricity’s active cases tally rose to 155 on Thursday, with 69 patients still being infected in Mohali, 63 in Chandigarh, and 23 in Panchkula.

Chandigarh asks PGI to hand over 20 unused ventilators

The UT administration on Thursday asked the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to hand over the 20 PM Cares fund ventilators that were discarded by the institute on grounds that these were ‘unfit’ for patients. The hospital authorities had said there were some technical glitches in the ventilators.

UT health secretary Yashpal Garg said, “All the ventilators received under PM Cares fund have been installed at the government hospitals of Chandigarh. However, there were some technically unfit ventilators with PGIMER and GMCH. The issue was taken up with the Centre and a team had visited to repair these ventilators at GMCH. There are 20 ventilators at PGIMER that have not been put to use till date. We have asked PGI to give us these ventilators so that we can install them in our hospitals after getting them repaired.”

The PGI had previously said that the ventilators may not be fit for ventilating critically ill patients, and that these should be checked properly before allowing it to be used on patients due to safety concerns.

The technical difficulties discovered while evaluating the quality of ventilators were stated in the reports, including the fact that the prescribed respiratory rate could not be achieved for paediatric patients and that chronic leak of 10 to 20% was seen in adult settings.

However, PGIMER director Dr Surjit Singh, said, “The ventilators have technical glitches and we have already sent the complaint to director health services. The UT health department can take back the ventilators from us if they want.”