E-Paper
Chandigarh tricity area registers zero Covid deaths after 107 days
Long-awaited milestone arrives after steady decline in fresh infections through June, achieved after restrictions on public movement
After a deadly second wave that claimed 1,100 lives in April and May, the tricity achieved the much-awaited milestone of zero Covid-19 deaths on Saturday.
While either of Chandigarh, Mohali or Panchkula had been reporting zero deaths through June, it was for the first time after 107 days since March 18 that no person succumbed to the viral infection in the tricity area on Saturday.
As the Covid cases started climbing swiftly in April, leaving critical care facilities overstretched, tricity’s daily deaths peaked to 38 on May 5. Thereon, it was not until June 1 that the daily toll dropped below 10.
As the tricity remained under lockdown through five weeks between May and June, the figure stayed less than 10 for 24 straight days since June 9, but did not hit zero until Saturday.
Having tided over the devastating second wave, in June Panchkula registered no death on as many as 15 days. Worst-hit in the tricity, Mohali recorded no casualty on three days in the month and Chandigarh achieved the milestone on nine days.
Recently, Panchkula has reported no death for six days in a row and Chandigarh four, while it was after five days that Mohali once again saw no resident succumbing to the virus on Saturday.
“With the decline in cases over the last few weeks, fortunately few patients are requiring hospitalisation. It takes a week to 10 days for the infection to become severe, but the number of such patients is quite low now. Also, having experienced the second wave, hospitals are now well-equipped to treat severe patients. But people must continue to adhere to Covid-19 safety protocols to avert the third wave,” cautioned Dr GD Puri, dean (academics) and head of department anaesthesia, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
32 test positive in slight uptick
Against 23 Covid-19 cases on Friday, 32 people tested positive on Saturday. Chandigarh saw the cases rising from 12 to 18, Mohali had 12 cases against seven a day ago, while in Panchkula, the figure decreased from four to two.
However, the active cases reduced from 445 on Friday to 415 on Saturday. Among them, 221 patients are still infected in Mohali, followed by 149 in Chandigarh and 45 in Panchkula.
The daily positivity rate was 1% or lower across the board – lowest in Panchkula at 0.2%.
The district also has the highest recovery rate of 98.6%, ahead of Chandigarh’s 98.4% and Mohali’s 98.1%.
