Haryana’s Panchkula logs 62 cases, highest this year

We have entered the second wave, said Panchkula civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur, after the district on Saturday recorded 62 new Covid-19 cases, highest single-day jump this year that took the total to 11,285

We have entered the second wave, said Panchkula civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur, after the district on Saturday recorded 62 new Covid-19 cases, highest single-day jump this year that took the total to 11,285.

The number of active cases has shot up from 124 at the beginning of the month to 343, and recovery rate has dropped from 97.4% to 95.6% in these 13 days (Representative Photo/HT File)

The number of active cases has shot up from 124 at the beginning of the month to 343, and recovery rate has dropped from 97.4% to 95.6% in these 13 days. The daily positivity rate stood at 5.3% on Saturday, as 1,168 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours. While 10,793 patients have been cured,149 have succumbed to the virus.

“We have entered the second wave, which is going on in the adjoining regions as well. We were kind of expecting it, and that’s why we are trying to get over with vaccination on time, so that we can deal with the rush of patients,” said Dr Kaur, adding that the situation is challenging as the vaccination drive has hit the sampling work.

Meanwhile, the health department will extend the ongoing vaccination drive for senior citizens and comorbid people to 42 sites on Monday. The drive took place at 27 sites — 18 government and nine private — on Saturday, and 1,726 people were vaccinated.

“The cases are rising and people need to take precautions. This vaccine is good and has no side effects,” said deputy commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja, adding that citizens can now register themselves online before going for vaccination as the Co-WIN portal has been made functional.

As many as 24,185 people have been vaccinated in the district to date, and 4,885 have received the second dose as well. Even though the drive for senior citizens began just this month, they constitute the major chunk with 11,963 getting the jab so far. Meanwhile, only 931 comorbid people in the age group of 45-59 years have been vaccinated.

Apart from them, 6,336 frontline workers and 4,955 healthcare workers have been covered. Of them, 1,982 and 2,903, respectively, have got the second shot.