Covid: Weekly tally surges 1000% in Chandigarh tricity

Of the three cities, Mohali remained the worst affected, with 2,473 Covid cases in a week, followed by 2,360 in Chandigarh, and 1,608 in Panchkula

In a steep surge, the Chandigarh tricity area reported 6,441 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past one week (January 3- 9), nearly 12 times the previous week’s tally. On January 9 alone, as many as 1,850 cases were reported. Meanwhile, four virus-related fatalities were also reported in the tricity.

In the week ending on January 2, the tricity had reported 547 Covid cases. (HT Photo)

In the week ending on January 2, the tricity had reported 547 cases and one fatality. As Chandigarh also logged an all-time high infections on Monday and the tricity’s daily tally climbed to of 1,982, medical experts believe the ongoing upward trend can be regarded as the beginning of the third wave.

Of the three cities, Mohali remained the worst affected, with 2,473 cases in a week, up from 144 earlier. In Chandigarh, the case tally was 2,360, against 287 the previous week, and Panchkula’s tally rose from 116 to 1,608. Of the four fatalities, Mohali reported two while Chandigarh and Panchkula accounted for one each.

The second wave had peaked in May, when the tricity recorded 46,245 cases and 790 deaths in just one month. After the weekly cases dipped below 100, a gradual rise was seen in December before a sudden spike this month.

Meanwhile, even the positivity rate is rising across the tricity. For example, on January 9, the average weekly positivity rate in Chandigarh has reached 12.54%, up from 2.97% in the week ending on January 2. However, the hospitalisation rate is quite low across the three cities. For instance, in Mohali, only four of 3,221 positive patients are hospitalised.

‘Community transmission increasing case load’

Dr Suman Singh, director, health services, Chandigarh, said: “The cases saw a sudden spike due to overcrowded gatherings, election rallies and festivals, where people did not bother to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. This is because the infection is spreading in the community. Despite the surge, people can be seen not wearing masks in public places. If they would have understood their social responsibility, cases could have been controlled.”

However, the health department has increased daily testing and are making possible arrangements to handle the surge, she said.

“Though hospitalisation and fatality rates are quite low, this does not mean people should take this variant lightly. After all, there are elderly parents, co-morbid persons and children at home, who are in the high risk group,” Dr Mukta Kumar, chief medical officer, Panchkula, said.

Dr Girish Dogra, nodal officer for Covid-19, Mohali, said, “Though cases are increasing drastically, most patients are asymptomatic and are recovering very quickly. Infection is transmitting quickly but the severity is low, as most of the people are now fully vaccinated against the disease.”