Health minister raises concern over Covid surge in Chandigarh tricity
Mohali records all-time high of 385 cases, while the tricity logs 673 cases, highest since the first wave in September
Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday expressed concern over the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the Chandigarh tricity area, as Mohali reported record 385 cases.
This is the highest number of cases reported in the district, even crossing the peak of 337 recorded on September 18 during the first wave last year.
Meanwhile, a day after recording highest number of cases in six months, both Chandigarh and Panchkula saw a dip from 214 to 203 and from 166 to 85, respectively. However, with 673 cases, the cumulative infection numbers in the tricity continued to rise, from 638 on Friday. During the first wave, the peak was recorded on September 13 with 865 cases.
“Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula are witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases. The daily infection number had dropped below 50 earlier this year, which has now seen resurgence and about 500-600 cases are being reported now. This is worrisome even though maximum number of new cases are concentrated in a few states,” said the health minister on the sidelines of a function at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.
Active cases go past 2,000
The number of active cases in Mohali district crossed the 2,000 mark on Saturday. A death was also reported, which took the toll to 409. Of 23,297 tested positive since the outbreak, 20,774 have been cured while 2,114 are still undergoing treatment.
Mohali city continues to report bulk of the cases with 292 on Saturday. Amid a surge, the district has recorded 2,982 cases and 24 deaths in March so far, up from 840 and 20, respectively, in February.
Continuing with their drive against violators, the district authorities 49 people for not wearing masks while 75 were made to undergo RT-PCR tests during checking in busy markets till 4pm.
Chandigarh logs 200+ cases for 4th day
Chandigarh for the fourth consecutive day reported 200+ cases, taking the total to 24,220 and active cases to 1,717. Meanwhile, a 45-year-old women from Sector 25 died, taking the number of fatalities to 361.
In just 20 days this month, around 2,500 cases have been reported in the city with weekly positivity rate touching a worrisome level of 10%, second only to Maharashtra’s 17.9%.
Also, against the seven-day growth rate of 0.28% at the national level, Chandigarh has the third highest growth rate of 0.73% among states and UTs after Punjab (0.94%) and Maharashtra (0.85%).
To ensure compliance, Chandigarh Police have directed all station house officers to intensify the drive against those not wear masks and not following social distancing in public places. All deputy superintendents of police are to submit daily report on challans to the police headquarters at 10am.
“We have issued more than 500 challans to people for not wearing masks. We have also started a door-to-door awareness campaign to encourage people to follow all safety norms,” said Kuldeep Singh Chahal, senior superintendent of police, Chandigarh.
P’kula DC for strict enforcement
The infection tally has climbed to 11,825 in Panchkula district, with 642 cases active, up from 124 on March 1. While 11,034 patients have been cured and discharged, 149 have died.
Amid the surge, deputy commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja has directed organisers of all social, academic, sports, entertainment, cultural and religious programmes to take prior permission from his office before holding congregations or functions.
All subdivisional magistrates and station house officers have been told to ensure that no gathering takes place without permission. Any violation will invite penal action under Section 51 and 60 of the Disaster Management Act besides legal action under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).