In November, Mohali sees 60% jump in Covid cases, 45% in deaths

The number of Covid-19 cases saw around 60% jump in November as compared to October in Mohali district, and fatalities also went up by 45% in the same period .

In comparison, Panchkula and Chandigarh recorded 35% and 20% rise in infections, respectively, while the number of deaths, in fact, dropped by 50% and 20%, respectively, between the two months.

Mohali recorded 3,140 cases in November, which account for 20% of the total tally till November 30. As many as 42 people died, which is 15% of the fatalities. Even recovery rate has dropped to around 85% after reaching as high as 93.7% in October.

Civil surgeon Dr GB Singh attributed the high number of cases to poor implementation of social distancing norms and lack of precautions being taken by citizens. “We have again deputed information, education and communication vans in remote areas to spread awareness and sample people,” he said.

Aashika Jain, additional district commissioner, confirmed that testing has been increased in the district, with instructions given to the civil surgeon to ensure round-the-clock availability of sampling teams at hospitals and two dedicated mobile sampling teams for the needy. “The control room is also being strengthened with requisite staff to attend to callers round-the-clock,” she said.

Maximum cases, deaths on December 1 too

Even as a new month began on Tuesday, Mohali reported maximum number of cases and deaths in the tricity.

As many as 129 people tested positive while three died in the district, followed by 128 cases and one death in Chandigarh, and 89 cases and no death in Panchkula.

Among the new cases, 112 were reported from Mohali city alone, which also accounted for nearly 75% cases in the district last month.

The total has reached 15,598, of which 2,003 are active. As many as 13,313 patients have recovered, including 192 discharged on Tuesday, and 282 have died.

In Chandigarh, 17,537 have tested positive so far, of whom 278 have died. With 103 patients being discharged on Tuesday, the number of those cured has reached 16,173, leaving 1,086 cases active.

Of 8,786 people who contracted the virus in Panchkula, 8,162 have been discharged, 127 have died and 497 are still to recover. The district has not reported any casualty for the past five days.

Night curfew is back, fine for not wearing mask doubled

Meanwhile, complying with orders issued by the Punjab government, district magistrate Girish Dayalan imposed night curfew for non-essential activities from 10pm to 5am in Mohali from Tuesday.

Under the new restrictions, penalty for not wearing masks in public places has also been increased from ₹500 to ₹1,000. Even the Chandigarh administration had doubled the fine to ₹1,000 last week.

Meanwhile, hotels and other hospitality units, including marriage palaces and restaurants within shopping malls, have to shut by 9:30pm.

Dayalan said the SSP, SDMs, civil surgeon and MC chiefs will have to ensure strict compliance of social distancing and other norms. Any violation will invite criminal proceedings under the Disaster Management Act and Indian Penal Code.