With 18 new cases reported on Monday, Panchkula district’s tally of Covid-19 infections in November reached 1,547, which is 17.7% of the total caseload (8,697).
As compared to 1,158 cases in October, a rise of 34% was seen in November.
As far as deaths are concerned, November witnessed a dip in fatalities with Panchkula logging 14 deaths, 11% of the total death toll (127) reported so far. In October, 27 deaths were reported.
Covid-19 nodal officer for Panchkula district, Dr Rajiv Narwal, said, “Due of the festive season, people didn’t follow Covid-19 norms like wearing masks and ensuring social distancing. They did not even come for testing, which allowed the infection to spread faster. Winter is also one of the reasons.”
He said the health department has increased sampling. “Daily, 900-1,000 samples are taken and on Saturday, the number was more than 3,000. The purpose is to trace the hidden cases, which are now emerging,” he said.
The rise in Covid cases is also causing troubles for those in need of beds.
“Bed occupancy is increasing at private medical facilities. Private hospitals are almost full and in another one week, so will the civil hospital,” Narwal said, adding that in such circumstances, a “surge plan” will be implemented, wherein 150 beds out of 300 kept for non-Covid ailments will also be used for Covid patients.
{{/usCountry}}“Bed occupancy is increasing at private medical facilities. Private hospitals are almost full and in another one week, so will the civil hospital,” Narwal said, adding that in such circumstances, a “surge plan” will be implemented, wherein 150 beds out of 300 kept for non-Covid ailments will also be used for Covid patients.
{{/usCountry}}The weekly report of new cases shows a spike in the second week of November. However, cases witnessed a gradual decline by the fourth week. While 293 cases were reported in the first week, the count increased to 419 by second week, declined a bit to 408 in the third week and to 345 by the fourth week. The last two days of November witnessed 82 cases.
Till date, Panchkula has registered 8,697 total cases, out of which 487 are active, while 127 people have succumbed to the infection.